Technically Speaking
by MX5
Summary: Jake's fed up with all the equipment breaking all the time and hires a technical director to fix it all and help out where they are needed. Melody Calloway, an expert at fixing mechanical problems, has a dark past of which she is targeted. Dedicated to the memory of Alan "Mr. Fabulous" Rubin. T for teen because of swearing.
1. Chapter 1

Set in 1985 with all the music of today and Jake is still alive.

Dedicated to the memory of Alan Rubin, "Mr. Fabulous"

Chapter 1: Need A Techie

About 100 miles outside Calumet City, a small pub sat at the corner of a rotary and the highway with a brightly lit neon sign that advertised NEIL'S WATERING HOLE in blue letters. The W and the H were burnt out and flickering oddly in the night sky, and the entire sign gave off a buzzing noise that one could clearly hear even from a few feet away. The tavern was awash with light which streamed out of the windows, inside it smelled like cigarette smoke and there was a thick aroma of whiskey and beer. At one end of the tavern on a ramshackle stage, a ten man band was set up and the lead singer was replacing his microphone.

"Thank you and good night!" he announced with a flourish as the audience applauded politely. Jake Blues nodded and accepted the applause as did the band and his taller brother Elwood Blues. They began to dismantle the equipment as the owner of the tavern shepherded the last of the drunks out of his establishment. A few protested, but the bouncer showed them the way out and none would dare argue with him.

"Shit!" the band's drummer Willie exclaimed as an amp wire came loose from its socket. "Got a technical prob here, guys."

Elwood picked up the wire and noted the casing had been shredded, probably from all the rough handling it got frequently, and pulled the socket piece out of the other end. He put the piece in his pocket, becoming aware that Jake was looking over his shoulder. Elwood picked up the amp and with a grunt, managed to open the door leading to the back parking lot with Jake following him, arms full of extension cords and microphones.

"Think you can fix this thing, Elwood?"

"Nope. Sorry, man." they popped the trunk of the Dodge in the dim light and began to shuffle the equipment into the dark interior. The band was doing that themselves on the other side with Murph's Cadillac, many of them grunting and uttering little complaints to themselves. All of them knew Jake didn't stand for the complaining so they kept it to themselves.

"Come on man, I don't believe you don't know how to fix this stuff," Jake lit up a cigarette with one hand and exhaled deeply as Elwood put an amp in the back of the Bluesmobile. Elwood, exhausted from their gig, turned and looked at his brother.

"I'm only good with cars, I don't know this stuff, Jake!" the edge in his voice marked his fatigue and Jake noticed it. As much as he pretended otherwise, he was ultrasensitive to Elwood's moods. The band muttered behind them, coming out of the back door with the instruments in their cases. It was nearing midnight and they stacked up the cases the best they could, tying some to the roof of the Cadillac.

"All right, all right, man. Sorry," Jake took another drag and sat in the shotgun seat of the Dodge. "we should hire a technical person who can fix this stuff, what do you think?"

"I'm game," Elwood got in and waited as Alan, Tom, and Murph crowded in the backseat. "When do we start checking resumes?"

"After this gig. We should send out a flier and put an ad in the local paper. I'll start drafting one." Jake pulled out a pad of paper and a pencil from the glove box and somehow despite the sunglasses and the darkness, he started writing.

"What are you guys talking about up there?" Murph switched his gaze from the scenery outside his window to the two brothers in the front seats.

"Well, Elwood and I have decided to hire a technician to tend to all this electrical stuff that we don't know how to fix." Jake replied as he scratched out a misspelled word.

"About time," Alan remarked sourly from his side of the car. "the last thing we need is to learn how to fix all this stuff that keeps shitting the bed!"

Elwood smirked. Alan sometimes had a funny way of phrasing things. Tom grunted, falling asleep already. Signaling for a turn, Elwood coasted the car down a small hill and turned right to a local inn a few miles from the highway. The sleepy band got out of the cars and fumbled for their room keys as Jake picked up the pad of paper and brought it with him into the foyer of the inn.

Lost in thought for a few minutes, he scribbled down what the job entailed and handed the scrap of paper to Elwood for his approval. His brother nodded, nearly asleep on his feet himself, and Jake sent off an overnight letter to the newspaper to run it for the next day.

"Hey Jake, remember the Palace Hotel gig a few years ago?" Elwood untied his tie and hung it up on a coat hanger as he took off his jacket.

"What about it?" that had been a near failure in his eyes. Five years ago he'd gotten out of the jail and against his wishes, Elwood forced him to see the Penguin, or the mother superior nun who had raised them in a church-run orphanage when they were kids. The Penguin told them of the dire situation with the orphanage and how it needed about five thousand dollars to pay back taxes and stay current. Jake had volunteered to go steal the money, but the Penguin insisted it be legitimate cash from honest work. Stymied, the two brothers had paid a visit to Curtis, their mentor from the days at the orphanage and surrogate father. Curtis told them to go to church and though reluctant, Elwood had talked Jake into it. Jake came up with the idea to use the band to play some gigs and get the money that way.

The band was less than enthusiastic about returning, though they all did. Alan took the most convincing and he was unfailingly sour in his past history with the Blues Brothers. He had been a maitre'd at a hoity-toity French restaurant when the brothers came to harangue him and under coersion, he relented. Jake suspected Alan didn't like his job much anyway and missed the traveling days of the band. Whether that was true, Alan would never admit it.

After an incident at a country bar and restaurant, the band got the Palace Hotel, spent all day canvassing the towns to build up media hype, they were late to their own gig. Elwood and Jake ran out of gas, the tanker truck was late, and by the time they arrived, the cops had swarmed over the Palace Hotel ballroom. They'd parked in a tunnel and played the gig, beating a hasty retreat with the money, drove through the night, and eluded cops from all over the state in their haste to get the money to the tax collector. Though they did it, they were booked by the cops and sent to jail.

The band was let out after about three months, given that they were unwitting accomplices to Jake and Elwood's scheme, and the two brothers themselves were let out after 5 years for good behavior. The brothers had kissed ass to get out, done all they could to prove they'd changed, and it worked. They had been out for six months now and hadn't gotten into any trouble.

Reuniting the band wasn't very hard, as their escapades a few years ago had gone public, and every employer was reluctant to hire them. Matt was the only exception, along with Lou, going right back to the cafe where they had worked previously. Duck, Steve, and Tom were doing guest spots on a local radio show but not much else, Willie had just gotten married, Alan was doing some trumpet work for a few local musicians, and Murph was looking for work.

"Wouldn't it be great if we had another gig like that?" Elwood was starry-eyed under his sunglasses. Jake snorted.

"I'd rather not have all the pressure like we did El, remember?" the pressure to deliver a great show, the audience's money's worth, etc. They were a low budget venue and the opulence of the place made Jake feel rather shoddy with the ragtag band. He'd heard Alan snark with Steve about how they felt too inadequate to perform at such a grand place and he knew his surly trumpeter had been right.

"Oh yeah," Elwood smiled to himself, causing Jake to scowl. "it was a night to remember."

"Go to bed, El!" Jake threw a pillow at him, not remembering the night with fondness at all.

That night's gig hadn't been bad at all, Elwood reminisced to himself. Except for the amp failing at the end of their set, everything had gone off without a hitch. To everyone's relief, there was no chicken wire as far as the eye could see and their audience wasn't a bunch of drunken louts. They liked the songs and got up to dance freely amongst themselves. They had been paid well and with a word of warning to the band about only taking one beer each, it all worked out well for them.

"Good night, Jake." Elwood was in his black pajamas and settling into the other twin bed in the room. Jake sat up and pulled off his hat and shades.

"Good night, Elwood." he responded as he tugged at his tie.

The next day they were all up and back on the road to their home town of Calumet City. Elwood and Jake had together rented out a decent two bedroom apartment in the complex where a few of the other band members lived as well. Parking the Dodge in the lot, they took their bags into the apartment and as soon as Jake turned the key in the lock, they heard the phone ring.

Fumbling with the door, Jake swore and dropped his keys as Elwood pushed the now unlocked door open and grabbed up the phone on the third ring. "Elwood."

"Elwood? Sline here."

"How's it going, Sline?"

"Not bad. I'm glad I caught you guys. You just get back?"

"Yeah. Traffic wasn't too bad."

"Listen, I saw your ad in the paper today and I wanna tell ya that you will have no more technical problems. I got someone here who is available to travel with you and help out in repairs."

"Already? That's great. When can we meet him?"

"Come in around noontime, all right? I've got you all set up with the next gig as well. Details when I see you."

"All right. Bye." he hung up and turned to see Jake practically in his lap, waiting for what Sline had to say.

"Sheesh Jake, don't do that to me!" Elwood jumped. "Sline says he has someone who can travel with us and fix our stuff. We go there at noon."

Jake wasn't the least bit apologetic about scaring his brother. "Anything else?"

"Yeah he says he's got a gig for us. We get all the info soon." Elwood crossed to his suitcase and unpacked it, taking the dirty clothes and putting them in the laundry basket. "Come on, get all your stuff in while I'm runnin' a load."

"Fine." Jake tossed in his clothes that were dirty and settled down on the couch to make up some sleep before they left again. Elwood ran the clothes down to the washing machines and set them to work. He sat down and dozed off while they were washing, rousing briefly to shift them into the dryer, then sinking into another doze while the dryer churned and wheezed through the load.

At Sline's office, he gave them the details of their next 6 gigs he'd booked for them, and then gave them the address of the person that would serve as their technical director. Jake and Elwood glanced at each other and thanked Sline for his help. The address had been to a local raceway and apprehensive about what they might find there, drove slowly.

Calumet City Raceway had only been operational for a few years, and when Elwood had gotten out of jail, he insisted on Jake accompanying him to a racetrack night for the amateurs. Jake hadn't wanted to go so Elwood had gone by himself instead, meeting some old acquaintances and staying away half the night to drink and carouse.

Now as they pulled in, they saw a Volkswagon Golf diesel tearing around the track, powersliding into each bend. Tires screeching, the acrid smell of burned rubber wafting up to their noses, both brothers stood at the edge of the track and watched. The driver did a handbrake turn, a J turn, then yanked the car to a stop nearby. A figure in a Nomex jumpsuit with Arai helmet came out. The jumpsuit was dark blue with black edging, the helmet was black, and the person came up to them quietly.

"Um, you're our new technical director?" Elwood nearly stammered as he stared into the black visor of the full face helmet. Black Alpinestar racing gloves came up and removed the helmet, causing both men's jaws to scrape the floor.

"I am." a very pretty lady with dark blonde hair pulled into a braid smiled at them as the braid fell out of the helmet and draped itself on her shoulder. She had dark brown eyes and full pink lips. Her figure was average, not too slim but not really fat either.

"Um, I'm Elwood and this is my brother Jake."

"Charmed." she pulled off her right glove and shook hands with both of them. "I'm Melody Calloway."

"I know you!" Elwood blurted out. "You came in 4th on the last race!"

"So I did," Melody looked amused. "if I had a turbo on this thing I would have made it!"

Jake looked at them both cluelessly as Melody showed off the Golf to Elwood, both of them discoursing thoroughly on the car and its merits. He sighed and leaned against the Dodge, lighting up a smoke and waiting for them patiently to be done with their little get acquainted session.

"...so I think you'll find a diesel is more efficient on fuel than regular gas," they approached Jake several long minutes later. "you do have to bleed the system pretty regularly though."

"Oh, my pit crew does that," Melody admitted. "I couldn't tell you a thing on how that car works."

Elwood chuckled. "What do you drive?"

"A 1980 Mustang."

"Nice. So we got a gig coming up tomorrow night. You ready to meet the band?"

"Sure. Got all my stuff packed away." she unzipped the Nomex jumpsuit to get some air and jumped in her car.

"Got directions?"

"Indeed I do. I'll follow you anyway." Melody put in the key and turned it, producing a loud musical growling of the engine.

"OK well, see you there."

"Will do." she waited for Elwood and Jake to leave first and shifted the car into first gear, ready to follow them. Her fingers were itching to downshift the car into fifth gear, but if she tried that while idling, the car would stall. Building up a number of revs or revolutions was key to an easy down or up shift.

"Let's see what kind of trouble I might get into." Melody mumbled to herself. "even the tracks may not be as fun as this." she'd had an itch to go on the road for awhile.

At the rendezvous point, the band had been loading up the Cadillac until the Mustang glided in behind the Dodge. They stared in surprise as the car came to a leisurely stop and out stepped a lady. Elwood introduced her and the band was introduced to her. Most were looking incredulous at her racing jumpsuit but she chuckled and stripped it off, revealing blue jeans, regular sneakers, a white camisole top and she pulled out a blue hoodie from her backseat and put it on. It was nearing fall so it was comfortable to be outside with no jacket on.

"Pleased to meet you all," she said with an easy smile, leaning against her car. "I've been well educated in amplifier and microphone repair."

"Nice car," Steve looked at it in wonderment as Melody beamed with pride. "can I ride in it?"

"Of course you can."

"She's a racecar driver so you'll need to be careful." Jake warned, but that didn't stop Matt, Steve, and Tom from getting into her car. Melody had enough spare room so all the equipment could be distributed among the 3 cars.

The others organized themselves among the other two cars and began their journey. Elwood liked Melody right off the bat but Jake had his doubts. Maury Sline hadn't steered them wrong before so he was willing to go with what Sline had said about her. The two horn players in the back chattered quietly to themselves as Elwood drove on, often checking his rearview for the other two in their little caravan.

"So what do you think, El? Will she fit in with the band?" Jake tossed a stub out the window.

"I bet she will. She knows what she's doing."

"Well, time will tell."

"You second guessing her, Jake?"

"No, not exactly," he demurred, trying to sort out what he felt. "I have to see her in action then I'll know whether or not she's a good fit with us."

"Cheer up, Jake. Have a little faith." that was something the Penguin was always saying as they grew up. Jake growled and pulled his hat down, shutting his eyes.

When they all pulled in at the diner for lunch, Melody sat with the guitar section and Murph, the brothers sat with the horn players and Willie.

They were all surprisingly quiet, so Matt asked Melody to tell them a little about her racing career. She immediately perked up and sat up straighter in her chair.

"I've been racing since I was 20-I'm almost 30 now, and it's been a blast. I seem to dominate the 4th to 10th places in any race. Just finished fourth in the beach rally a week ago."

"Get cash for that?" Duck asked.

"Only if you finish in 3rd to 1st," she explained. "I haven't gotten there yet but I will."

"I like you attitude."

"Thanks, Matt."

"I hope you haven't had any accidents."

"I've had some, Steve. Some shmuck a few years ago rear ended me and tore one section of my back fender off. My car lost a buttcheek and I was extremely angry about it, let me tell ya. The worst accident ever was when another driver went the wrong way and T-boned me. I was lucky it was on the passenger side and the roll cage protected me."

"Oh god, were you hurt badly?"

"Yes I was, Murph. I don't remember much about it, though. I can't recall even now how I got out of the car. I had a back injury which wasn't bad, a bad sprain, but the worst was a broken left arm and a few cracked ribs."

"Damn."

"Oh yeah. I kept saying that for days afterwards. I didn't need surgery so I was happy about that one."

"Are there any aftereffects from your injuries?"

"Yes," Melody looked knowingly at Murph. "my left arm can predict rain now. It always gives me trouble when rain comes. Sometimes I overextend my back and the old injury flares up. I have to stay horizontal for at least a day until it stops hurting."

"Once again, damn." Steve sympathized. Melody grinned at him as the waitress came over with loaded plates for them.

The others had overheard Melody's talking and they all glanced at each other in turn, then at her. Elwood was thinking about how a person as young as he was had already suffered nasty injuries for her vocation, but he knew racecar driving wasn't an easy task. Melody must have the courage of a lion to overcome those obstacles, he'd reasoned to himself. Doubtless she was hoping to get spotted by a talent scout or any corporation that would sponsor her like Mobil or Sunoco.

"Damn," Lou muttered. "and I thought I had it hard." he cast a furtive glance at Melody who was giggling at something Murph said to her. Jake inclined his head in agreement and looked over at Alan, who was expressionless as usual. Tom was chattering to Willie and Elwood behind his sunglasses had a far off and almost dreamy look in his eye.

When lunch was over, everyone got in the cars in the same order as before. Elwood had no sooner turned onto the interstate when Lou cried out, "Look at that!"

Melody had turned the Mustang into the right lane and was now overtaking the Cadillac. They were sure she'd slide in between the Caddy and the Bluesmobile, but she wasn't satisfied. Egged on by Steve and Matt in the backseat, she threw the car into fifth gear and overtook the Bluesmobile as well.

"Road chicken!" she laughed, speeding ahead. Her passengers cheered her on, turning and waving goodbye to the other cars. Elwood sped up but she anticipated this and went even further ahead.

"Watch her getting pulled over by a cop," Alan said gleefully. "then she'll pay!"

Unfortunately for him, there was no cop to be seen on the interstate. Mildly disappointed, he pouted for a moment as he stared out the window. Lou smirked at his friend, knowing how much he hated to be proven wrong, but said nothing more. Alan kept up a sarcastic and prickly exterior but when one would penetrate that outer shell, he was kind and caring. Lou had figured that out after one road trip where he'd kept up an incessant stream of chatter to Alan, eventually managed to hit on a topic they both liked, and Alan warmed up to him.

In the Caddy, after seeing Melody in the opposite lane, they all encouraged her to pass Elwood and the others and started laughing when she did. Elwood was a hotshot driver though he never flaunted it in front of him. He was famous for powersliding his car into parking spots, much to the consternation of pedestrians nearby who thought he was going to hit their cars.

"I think she'll be in the right place with us." Willie folded his arms and grinned. "She's got spunk."

"Amen to that." Duck agreed.

At the Ramada inn, they stopped off and organized themselves into their hotel rooms. Like usual, Jake and Elwood shared a room and by twos the other bandmembers organized themselves. Murph and Willie, Tom and Lou, Steve and Matt, Duck and Alan all grouped themselves into their rooms with no complaints. Melody was granted a room to herself between Duck and Alan, and Jake and Elwood. She was happy for the consideration and thanked them as she popped the trunk on the Mustang and pulled out her luggage.

"OK gentlemen, bring me your damaged equipment and I'll see what I can do." she announced grandly, opening up her tackle box full of supplies. Melody pulled out what she thought she needed, needlenose pliers, a jack knife, electrical tape, and a reel of small gauge wire.

"Oh, a few needing some rewiring a bit...the connections are bad." she muttered, accepting two microphones from Duck. The cord was ripped in places which exposed the wiring, and the technical director set to work. Using her wirecutters, she stripped off the section of ripped outer casing which exposed the wires, then probed to make sure none of the internal filaments were disturbed. Happy that they were not, Melody took some spare black plastic from her kit and used a hot soldering iron to melt a new piece of plastic as a patch.

"All right, that's done," pushing back her braid, she picked up the other microphone and examined it. Where the cord connected to the microphone itself was frayed and hanging on by a string, so Melody had to what she called resection it. It was easy to cut the remaining filament of wire free, open up the microphone and clean out the connector. She then trimmed the wire to an equal length, discarding the old filaments and wire, then refitted the new section of cord into the microphone connector hole. Melody then melted black plastic to secure the two ends together and reinforced it with a little more plastic.

"These two are done." she put them in the black bag with the rest of the mikes and extension cords, zipping it closed. The band was having a meeting in the other room, Melody did not want to disturb them, so she flopped onto the bed and picked up a magazine from her backpack. She was looking forward to hearing the band that night after supper, but then she caught sight of a notice in the magazine, announcing that amateur night at the drag racing strip was going on and they needed local talent.

It was only 3 p.m, so Melody yawned and stretched out on the bed, knowing there was plenty of time before showtime.

Around 5:30 there was a knock at her door and a muffled voice calling her name. The doorknob rattled and opened up, revealing Elwood and Alan peering into the room.

"Mel?" they saw a still figure on the bed, the hoodie thrown carelessly on the back of a chair. Her toolbox was still open on the desk, the black bag with their electrical equipment in it was on the chair. Elwood ventured further into the room followed by the trumpet player.

Melody lay on the bed on her right side, eyes closed. Beside her lay an automotive magazine, opened up to the events section. Elwood peered at it as Alan closed the blinds in the room. "Think we should wake her up?"

"No. She's had a long day already." Elwood decided as Alan came over and looked at Melody closely, noticing a three inch scar on her left upper arm. He knew she had broken her left lower arm in a car crash, but she'd never mentioned anything about a scar. Idle curiosity reared up and Alan would ask her about that scar later on when he had a minute.

"All right." the trumpet player spread a blanket over Melody, watched her sleep for a moment, then left the room with Elwood.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: If He's Mr. Fabulous, I'm Miss Wonderful

"All right troops, we've got the gig in about an hour, so let's go set up for sound check," Jake stood up after supper and led the way to the cars. It was fortunate they were playing right across the street from the hotel, so there was no need to shuttle the cars back and forth. Elwood picked up the bag from Melody's room as quietly as possible as each band member picked up their instruments and walked over. "Where's Melody?"

"In her room, sleeping." Alan answered as he hefted out his trumpet case and picked up a small amp.

"She's not sick is she?"

"No, Duck. I don't think so."

"She should be here in case something goes wrong." Jake put down an amp to open up the door to the small auditorium. The locale were giving a charity dance and they had been a bit apprehensive but booked the Blues Brothers. A generous sponsor had agreed to pay them, so there was no qualms about the money.

"She will, Jake. Just give her a day or two to adjust to life on the road," Elwood defended Melody as he held the door open. "there's always a period of adjustment."

"Yeah, sure." Jake mumbled and lit up a cigarette as they filed in and began setup. Unlike the other dives they had played in before, the gym was nicely furnished and set up with big gaudy decorations announcing the dance was for the local animal welfare society. Several corporate sponsors had gotten in on the deal and offered a raffle, action, etc. Elwood privately liked the idea of the dance to benefit the animal shelters, as he'd always liked animals himself. They'd had a pet bird in the orphanage for awhile until it died, but his love of animals never dimmed.

"Hey, this mike works great now!" Tom exclaimed as he adjusted the mike that Melody had repaired earlier. The others turned towards him as they saw there was no spot of missing plastic, just a seamless patch which was barely visible to the human eye. Murph picked up his mike and noticed it had been reconnected and seemed more powerful than before. He voiced his surprise and beamed broadly, saying that he thought Melody was perfect.

"All right, all right. Sound check." Jake didn't really like a lot of excitement. They were finishing up just as the sponsors showed up and listened to the sound appreciatively, telling them that they were just what they wanted.

"We found out about you a few years ago after my son listened to your album," one pudgy guy told them. "you have a distinct sound and you're reviving the blues music which I've always loved. I have to say the community was aghast when I suggested you, but I told them the past was the past and you'll be magnificent. Besides, there are no kids here so you can swear freely." he winked.

Jake had to laugh as he shook the guy's hand. The guy sounded more like his type of person and he warmed up more towards the gig and the animal beneficiaries behind it. He had heard some stories already about a shelter's adoptees which sounded like very colorful characters. Jake remembered the bird at the orphanage and he had comforted Elwood when it died, but he was torn up about it as well. Elwood had been the one who was closer to his emotions and Jake was always watching out for that part of him.

The houselights were dimmed and the stage lights were turned on as the guests began to arrive and everyone picked up their mikes and instruments. It was showtime.

Around 7 PM, Melody woke up from her nap to discover someone had been in her room. She didn't remember putting a blanket over her before she fell asleep and the bag was gone. The young woman stood up and looked out the window, hoisting up the blinds, not remembering drawing them in the first place. Remembering the amateur rally night was about to start, she picked up her jumpsuit, racing gloves and helmet, stuffed them into her duffel bag, then dashed out to the parking lot. She didn't have the Golf diesel that was usually at her disposal and she didn't want to use her daily driver in a race, but she knew there were spare cars at the track. It was fortunate the racetrack was not far away.

Melody had always liked running and it stood her in good stead now, as she ran to the track in under five minutes. Frequently Melody would go to the local gym and run on the treadmill for about a mile, not wanting to overtax herself. She arrived at the racetrack panting a little bit and requesting a spare car to drive.

"This way." the attendant led her to a dilapidated Chevy Cavalier with a sloppy number 18 spray painted on the sides. It was better than nothing, Melody allowed, and fastened on her jumpsuit, helmet, gloves. The engine revved and she drove onto the track, taking last place because of her lateness.

As soon as the flag went down, Melody threw the Cavalier into gear and began driving like she never had before. Ten successive laps and she had reached second place for the first time. Thrilled, she let it go to her head for a moment and that was all that was needed for the car in front of her to brake suddenly and she was too late to brake as well. Fortunately the Cavalier was sturdily built, and Melody was able to get out of the car without any problems.

"You idiot!" she fumed at the other driver. "You just did that to prevent me from taking second place!" the other driver protested feebly. Melody wanted to throw that man onto the racetrack so she could front end him, but that wouldn't be worth it. The attendants at the racetrack anyway were reviewing the footage and the deciding the verdict as Melody verbally assaulted the driver.

"Oh shit!" the other driver noticed a fuel leak in the Cavalier's gas tank and a spark ignited from a faulty streetlight nearby. He grabbed Melody around the waist and hauled her away from the car, ignoring her shout of surprise. The fuel was ignited, an explosion was heard, and Melody found herself lying faceup on the grass with the other driver crouching over her, protecting her from any debris. Flipping her visor up, she saw a few shards of metal but nothing else.

"Get off me, please." she pushed him aside gently and sat up, taking off her helmet. The Cavalier was smouldering and the fire engine was already there, dousing out the last flame from the wreck. Standing up on shaky legs, they both went back to the attendant who told them that Melody was in third place indefinitely. They ruled the accident was an accident and not a malicious attempt to sabotage her. Melody was huffy but she accepted the ruling, received her third place ribbon, then hastily left the racetrack.

Shedding the jumpsuit, gloves and helmet, she walked back to the hotel and had a late supper. Melody put a wet paper towel over the front of her helmet and stood it on the sink counter as a way to clean it, then she plopped onto bed again. It was nearing 11 and she got ready for bed, pulling on pajama pants and a camisole top. Her pants were in a tartan design and the top was red to match. Melody was fond of her Scottish heritage and though she couldn't tolerate liquor like a Scotsman could, she did enjoy a beer or two.

When she settled in, her right knee began to bother her and she guessed it had been bashed against the car in the accident. It was starting to swell up a bit, so Melody managed to get into the bathroom and make up a cold compress. The young woman limped back to bed and applied the compress to her knee, sighing in relief as the pain died down. She was just about to get into bed when there was a knock at her door.

"Come in."

Willie opened up the door and leaned into her room. "Jake says quick band meeting."

"All right, I'll be right there." with a groan, she got off the bed. "What?" Willie was eyeing her.

"All right?"

"Not yet. I'll tell you guys after the meeting."

"Want some help?"

"No, I'm OK. Thanks though." Willie walked with her anyway to the hotel room Jake and Elwood were occupying that night. Both of the brothers looked a little taken aback when they saw she was limping a bit. The band members noticed as well but didn't say anything as she eased herself down on a corner of Elwood's bed. Jake discussed the finances and their next gig, which was a 3 night engagement about 250 miles away. Changing the set list and talking about a few other things, Jake turned to Melody, who'd been silent the entire time.

"Mel, I noticed you're limping." he said bluntly.

She grinned. "Very quick on the uptake aren't you, Jake?" a few band members grinned at her comment. "While you guys were out, I went to a local rally and did 10 laps in an old Cavalier. I placed 3rd by the way. The trouble came when I was in second place, someone cut me off and slammed the brakes so I had no time to react."

Several people's faces drained of some color. "But you're OK?" Matt asked quickly, sizing her up with his eyes to make sure she was telling the truth. Melody met his eyes and gave him a warming smile.

"Yes I am. The Cavalier was well built structurally and my right knee got bashed a bit. I'll be a bit sore and might be a bit black and blue, but that's about it. I had my helmet on of course."

"I never knew a girl like you who liked to do such things," Alan remarked. "mostly they had the good sense to stay inside!"

He was rewarded with a sharp glare. "I'm gonna give you one chance to rephrase that, Mr. I-think-I'm-so-fabulous." Melody grunted a bit as she shifted position and Lou hoisted her up a little more so she was sitting upright. There was a moment of terse silence in the dank little room as Jake nearly gaped at Melody. He expected her to be submissive in nature like most of the other women he'd met, but he was learning fast not to judge her by the same standards as every other lady. Alan's face darkened and he opened up his mouth to retort, and to no doubt rouse Melody's ire some more.

"No, let's not get into arguments!" Elwood hated confrontation, he was always pulling Jake out of brawls when they were growing up. "We all better go to sleep. It's been a long day." the band members got up and filed off to their rooms, Steve giving Melody a hand and helping to make sure she was comfortable. Alan grunted something under his breath but allowed Steve and Melody to leave first. Like Jake, he was unused to women who really stood up for themselves. Melody wasn't a loose cannon by any means, but she let them know when they crossed a line. In spite of himself, his respect for her grew a notch.

"Steve?" Melody opened up her door and limped inside, turning on a lamp.

"Yes?"

"Is Alan sexist?"

"No. He's just one of those guys who has an exterior shell if you will and you have to get past that. He needs to warm up to you, that's all." he reassured her as she got into bed. Steve brought up the blanket that Alan had spread over her earlier. "He was in here with Elwood to ask you about some of the electrical stuff that needed fixing, but he saw you were asleep so they decided not to wake you up."

"Oh," a faint flush rose to her temples, embarrassed to be caught asleep on the job already. "what must they think of me now, eh? I sleep at inconvenient times and get into accidents?" Melody eased herself onto her bed and pulled down the covers, groaning at the pain in her knee. She picked up the ice pack and reapplied it, which gave her some relief.

Steve laughed and turned off the light. "No, they know that it's your first day and it's a period of adjusting. That's all. They didn't have to let you sleep, you know. Neither one had the heart to wake you up."

"I suppose."

"Just give Mr. Fabulous a chance to get used to you. That's all."

"If he's Mr. Fabulous, I'm Ms. Wonderful." she muttered, already falling asleep. Steve chuckled and closed the door, enveloping the room in blackness.

Unlike the others, Melody did not sleep very well that night. She kept getting awakened by the pain in her knee and though the ice pack helped, it only temporarily took the pain away. Memories of her other crashes seeped into her mind and that made her very restless all through the night. The others were all sound asleep, Melody thought it was Jake that was snoring, so she got up and went out to her car for a few minutes, not knowing how she would drive the next day.

Leaning against her car and looking up at the sky, she saw stars glittering in the blackness. It was almost like she could reach up and pluck a star out of the sky. In spite of herself, she remembered her aunt, who loved looking at the stars in the nighttime with Melody when she was growing up. They would sit outside on the porch of her house and spin stories about the constellations until they were both trying to stay awake. Melody's aunt was an outgoing person like Melody herself, a great sense of humor, they both had the same dark blonde hair and wide brown eyes. The Calloway family had moved out of Chicago and settled in Calumet City where Melody was born, they lived there for 10 years, and then Melody's father got transferred at his job to Florida. Not wanting to go, her aunt volunteered to take custody of Melody until she turned 18.

Melody's mother had died when she was small from cancer, and Melody did not want to be far away from her mother's grave. Her aunt understood and so did her father. He took her two brothers and they transferred to Florida where they liked the atmosphere and the fact that there was no snow all year. They had never liked the snow so moving was a bit of a relief to them. Melody had philosophical acceptance of snow, she liked the challenge of driving in it as well. When travelers would come in from the warmer southern climate, they would be paralytic about the snow and afraid to drive in anything more than a light coating. One of Melody's favorite things to do to those people was boldly announce that an inch of snow was nothing, laugh at the incredulous looks on their faces, then jump into her car and maybe flashily turn a burnout as she left a parking lot. It never ceased to amaze her.

A little chilled now, Melody was alone in every way possible. Her aunt Ella died 3 months ago, murdered in an alley by a crook. The criminal wasn't caught yet and Melody doubted they ever would be. She had seen to it that her aunt and mother were side by side in the cemetery and she visited them once a month. The young racecar driver had a monument set up for her aunt next to her mother in rose granite. Her aunt had always liked art and Greek architecture, so Melody had a custom design of acanthus leaves and Corinthian columns sandblasted into the stone. Keeping herself busy with the funeral arrangements, interment and reception had kept Melody's mind off of her grief, but even now, it would come back to her often, most of all when she was alone.

It was getting cold outside. Melody wiped away a tear that she hadn't even noticed before and cleared her eyes, blinking the rest away as she went back inside. Mentally she reminisced over the way Ella would take her swimming down in the river when it was summertime, how they'd build snowpeople in the winter, and they enjoyed Halloween the best of all holidays. Both of them loved the paranormal and they believed in ghosts. Walking down along the semi dark corridor, Melody pulled out the key to her room and was almost there when she heard someone walking to their door.

A door opened and Alan stepped out into the hallway, blinking at the bright light as she approached her door. Inwardly groaning, she did not need Alan snarking at her in the middle of the night. He raked his hands back into his hair, trying to smooth it down some but soon gave up on that.

"Mel, what's going on?" Alan blinked as his eyes adjusted to the light. To him, Melody looked tired and something else that he couldn't quite place.

Giving a casual shrug, she said "Nothing." and unlocked her door, which opened with a slight creak.

"Don't give me that!" he hissed in a low voice. "I woke up to hear you leave your room and I couldn't get back to sleep again."

So he didn't give a damn about her, she thought. Normally people would ask if one was all right if they had done what she had done. Melody didn't know what to make of Alan despite what Steve had told her.

"If you must know, my injury is keeping me up," she retorted. "it'll be better by tomorrow, thanks for asking."

His eyes widened a little bit and she brushed past him into her room. Alan stood there as he heard the door shut and he had noticed as she'd gone past that there were faint tearstreaks on her face. From what he could only wonder. The trumpeter just shrugged his shoulders as he turned back into his room, shutting the door. That woman was an enigma, he decided as he got back into bed.

At the same time, Melody shut the door quietly and managed to fall asleep somehow, unsettling dreams of her aunt Ella and her mother threading themselves through her subconscious mind.

When 8 AM arrived the next morning, Jake and Elwood were up and so was the rest of the band. Melody got up a bit reluctantly, not feeling at her best and she had only gotten about 4 hours of sleep that night. It was her first full day on the road and she wanted to look at least presentable, so she put some makeup on that she always wore.

"Undereye cover makeup is a godsend," she muttered as she brushed on a light colored eyeshadow. "Oops!" her foundation clattered to the floor. Over the years she had perfected her makeup routine and modified it so it took the least amount of time possible. Her father had always called makeup war paint and even now she still thought his phrasing was quite funny.

Examining her knee, she discovered that it had swelled up a little more and she was very uncomfortable. Every step she took was painful and Melody had to refrain from swearing the entire time as they walked out to the cars after breakfast. The crash still on his mind, Elwood kindly asked her if she thought she could drive that day. Jake, who was warming up to her now, listened as he pulled open the passenger side door and hesitated upon sliding in to hear her proclamation.

"I better not," she decided. "I just took a medicine that will knock me out for a few hours at best." Matt was elected to drive her car and he accepted the keys, promising to be good. Melody got into the Bluesmobile with Jake and Elwood and after a moment's pause, Alan did as well. Buckling themselves in, Elwood started the engine and they pulled out onto the highway.

"Check this out," Jake pulled out a newspaper. "found this local rag in the dining room. You're mentioned in here, Mel."

"I bet." after being up half the night, her brain was too exhausted to work properly. Jake glanced back at her and saw her eyelids were closing. The medicine taking affect, she slid off into a dreamworld of stark whiteness.

Not much was said between the other occupants of the car. Jake and Alan conversed a bit on their gig last night while Elwood drove. Jake read aloud the article of the incident at the racetrack last night, it being described as an unfortunate accident. Both of the drivers had come away unharmed but the gas tank of the Cavalier had ignited. Melody hadn't said anything about that and they were not very surprised that she hadn't, not wanting to relive the moment. The article also said that the driver which had caused the accident had seized Melody and threw themselves clear of the explosion.

"It says here that Melody had unleashed a 'torrent of bad language so rich and colorful it is assumed there is a sailor somewhere in her family.' I bet!" Jake laughed. "It sounds like she'll let go if something pisses her off." his respect for her went up a few notches, remembering her retort at Alan last night. Undoubtedly Alan was remembering it too, as his face turned pink and he resorted to staring out the window.

"She's from New England, Jake. They're a pretty salty crowd up there." Elwood signaled for a turn and swore as another driver tried to cut him off. "Piss off, buddy!" he yelled out the window and flipped the guy off. The guy honked his horn in consternation but had to relent as he saw Elwood was not backing down at all.

Alan winced as a horn blared again. Elwood's driving always made him nervous. Jake gripped the dashboard and barked at Elwood to cool off. "How the hell did you know she's from New England anyway?"

"She told me yesterday."

"When?"

"We had a moment outside the cars when you guys were taking your sweet ass time to show up."

"At lunchtime?"

"Yup."

"Right. I gotta take some time to get to know her." Jake lit up again and exhaled.

"Uh Jake, she's an asthmatic as well. Just keep the window down when you do that."

"She only talks to you then?" irritated, Jake took a deep drag and exhaled out the window.

"Make time to do it." was all Elwood said.

"Piss off."

Pulling off the highway at a gas station two hours later, the band stretched their legs and did whatever they needed to do as the cars were gassed up and ready to go again. Melody blearily came awake as a car door slammed and she stretched out, getting out of the car and noticing that her right knee was less sore than before. Pleased, she attended to her needs and went back into the car. Elwood got in after paying for the gas, turned and saw that Melody was awake. A smile brightened up his face and was returned.

"Hey, Mel. You were pretty zonked out. You slept all morning."

"Worth it. I didn't sleep much at all last night." she rubbed at her eyes, still feeling a bit tired but it was tolerable. Jake and Alan slid into their seats and shut the doors as Elwood fired up the car.

"Hey, you're awake." Jake twisted to see Melody grin at him. "About damn time if you ask me! Now it'll be great to have someone else to talk to. I already know these two well, but I don't know you at all."

"Should I be flattered, Jake?" she teased.

"Feel however you want, Mel."

"Why thank you," sniggering, Melody rolled down the window and enjoyed the fresh air. "so what's up with you two? True blood brothers or what?"

After giving her the low down on how Jake and Elwood came to be known as brothers, Elwood asked Melody to share a bit of herself with the other two. Seeing as he had no choice but to listen, Alan shot her a look that she didn't notice, or she pretended not to notice. She didn't understand Alan yet, but that wasn't her problem. If he didn't like her, fine. Melody pulled back her hair and wove it into a braid, tossing the end off of her shoulder carelessly.

"My family came from Vermont and my dad moved us out here to Calumet City before I was born. I have 2 bothers, John and Josh, they started me on racetracks by watching NASCAR on TV all the time. I always wanted to be one of those F1 drivers. My dad moved my brothers and himself to Florida because of his job, but my aunt took care of me until I was 18."

"Your mom? Where was she?"

"She died when I was about 5. She had cancer. Anyway, I've been exposed to a lot of things. I can do makeup, operate stage lights, act somewhat and I used to sing."

"Sing? We could use you."

"Um, we'll see. I'm not as good as I used to be." Melody blushed.

"Come on, we'll be nice." Jake wheedled and Melody did a double take with a laugh. Jake was indeed warming up to her and she smirked to herself.

"Well, I was thinking this band might appeal more to the females if we have a female vocalist."

"It's a thought. I will sing for you guys if you want, but I am not that good though."

"A few vocal exercises and you'll be great I'm sure." Elwood reassured her. "What songs do you know?"

"Many. I love Adele and I can do a fair imitation of her. Though I have to say instead of the usual sausage fest this band is, a female in would be a refreshing change." the brothers sniggered and even Alan had to grin.

"We've had a few ask us if we'll ever put a female on the team," Jake mused. "we'll see. I'm not promising anything."

"Don't worry, Jake. I know how this sort of thing goes. If you can, you can. If you can't, it's not worth losing sleep over." the technical director said mildly.

"Have you been onstage before?"

"Yes, Jake. I was in the musical Sweet Charity and I also did Chicago."

"There's some good musicals right there," Elwood pulled up at a stoplight. "what parts did you play?"

"I didn't do any leads," Melody chuckled. "I could stun them with my voice and I never got any part which truly showcased my range. Bloody favoritism. Old news though. I did choral parts, nothing more than that."

"Your favorite song from Chicago?"

"It was hard to choose just one, but the cell block tango I'd say would have to be my absolute favorite."

"Right on." Jake had been fond of that musical for awhile, given it was set in Chicago. Elwood glanced at his brother as they merged lanes onto the highway and Jake gave a nod, meaning they would try Melody that night before the gig to see what she was made of. Alan found himself wondering what Melody was made of as well, guessing she had an alto voice which could work for their particular type of blues music. He was oddly looking forward to that night. Stealing a glance at Melody, he saw that she was jabbering away with Jake and Elwood, not looking the least bit apprehensive about that night's gig either.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Vocal Debut

When they pulled up around 8 PM at a nightclub for their gig, Elwood shifted the car into park, got out, stretched, then popped the trunk open. Jake called the local motel which was about ten minutes away by car and reserved rooms for them all while the band set up their equipment. Melody helped out as much as she could, toting Murph's keyboard along with Willie. Matt was already set up and he was playing bluesy riffs that Melody already was enjoying. Duck was experimenting with fast and slow bass lines, and Steve was pretending to battle Matt. Giggling, Melody enjoyed the atmosphere around them, observing Murph set up and begin his sound check. Elwood and Jake conversed with the manager of the place and the horns set up and began to warm up a bit.

"Yo Mel, sing something, will you?" Tom called with a grin. "We wanna hear you and we need something while we adjust the sound levels."

"I'm not gonna be very good," Melody walked over to Elwood's mike, surprising herself by feeling weak in the knees. It wasn't because of her bad knee, but the anticipation that they would hear her sing and pass judgement on her. She didn't want to do it for a second, but like an old friend once told her, she had to shut up and do it.

"You'll be great!" they cheered her on while Alan turned to pick up the oil for his trumpet. After a few dabs he was ready to go again. Melody noticed that out of the corner of her eye but decided not to make any kind of scene. Alan didn't like her and that was that. She cleared her throat and asked around if they knew Adele.

"How about Skyfall?" the band told her they knew the song and counted down. The horns played her in and Melody cleared her throat a second time, then began to sing.

"

This is the end  
Hold your breath and count to ten  
Feel the earth move and then  
Hear my heart burst again  
For this is the end  
I've drowned and dreamt this moment  
So overdue, I owe them  
Swept away, I'm stolen

"Let the sky fall, when it crumbles  
We will stand tall  
And face it all together  
Let the sky fall, when it crumbles  
We will stand tall  
And face it all together  
At sky fall  
At sky fall

"Skyfall is where we start  
A thousand miles and poles apart  
Where worlds collide and days are dark  
You may have my number, You can take my name  
But you'll never have my heart..."

The band members stared at her in wonderment as they played on. All of them had never thought that Melody's voice could be so soulful. She timed her pauses well, made her voice rise and fall, but most importantly she put a lot of emotion into her singing. Tom and Lou grinned for a moment, exchanging smiles with the others except Alan, who appeared to be dumbstruck. Melody's singing appeared to wash over him like a wave and never did he think that she could have the power to do that. Her rough exterior seemed to melt away and the lady that she was shone onstage. Alan thought it was like seeing her for the first time, sans the racing and technical directing.

"Let the sky fall, when it crumbles  
We will stand tall  
And face it all together  
Let the sky fall, when it crumbles  
We will stand tall  
And face it all together  
At sky fall

"Where you go I go  
What you see I see  
I know I'd never be me without the security  
Of your loving arms keeping me from harm  
Put your hand in my hand and we'll stand..."

Jake and Elwood came into the room them, seeing Melody up onstage doing the chorus, her eyes were looking up but they knew she wasn't really seeing anything at all. When a performer sang a song, sometimes they went into what Jake called the performer's trance, when they're there but not there. Melody was in her own world, concentrating on the lyrics and really feeling them. The brothers glanced at each other and knew by unspoken agreement that Melody had earned herself a spot as a singer and backup singer.

"Let the sky fall  
We will stand tall  
At sky fall  
Ooooo..." the horns played her out and Melody seemed to come out of her trance, seeing the brothers looking at her and Jake whistling. Beaming, she bowed at them as a few patrons of the place gave her applause as well.

"You were incredible!" Jake bounded up on stage and gave her a bear hug. Elwood followed, his grin blinding her like the sun. "I never would have guessed that you possessed such a powerful voice! Man, you can sing!"

"Thank you, thank you!" she blushed and turned to the band, who were applauding her as well. Even Alan was, she noticed with a wry smile. "I never thought I'd be able to stand on a stage and sing again."

"How does it feel?" Murph hugged her.

Melody glanced around at everyone who was waiting for her response. "Like I'm back home."

Elwood laughed. "That's how it goes. Once you get used to being onstage, it does feel like home. You're never comfortable anywhere else."

"That's so true." was all Melody said. "I'm going for a drink and maybe I'll catch a few songs that you guys do. I've got an amp to fix and it might take awhile."

"We'll meet tomorrow and put a few songs with you on them in the set list," Jake promised. "you should sing more."

"Oh, I thought this was a one time thing."

"Nope. Once the audience hears you, they'll be wanting more!" Jake's excitement was contagious and Melody could feel herself catching it. She nodded and went to the bar, the errant amp and busted cord had been bundled into her Mustang in the back parking lot. Alan's eyes were glued to her back, wondering how such a woman could possess such a voice.

Lou nudged him. "Are you getting sweet on her, Al?"

"What? No. Why do you ask?"

The sax player put down his instrument and flexed his fingers for a long moment. He looked over at his friend and laughed. "You've got a look that you get whenever you look at Mel and it's kind of the way I look at my wife."

"That's bullshit," Alan retorted. "I have not got in any way a crush on her!"

"Call it what you want." Lou walked backstage to grab a few pieces of equipment as Alan returned his gaze to Melody. She was joking with the bartender and knocking back a few drinks. There was no time to ponder what Lou had said as the audience was coming in and they were starting to tune up and play as Elwood began his long rambling opening narrative. The band tolerated Elwood's long winded speeches which were supposed to welcome the audience, but Elwood infused it with his own points of view on whatever topics he was feeling strongly about that day. Even Jake thought Elwood was preachy but he didn't tell Elwood to give up his soliloquies.

Launching into Gimmie Some Lovin', the band played dutifully as the brothers sang. It was after Flip, Flop, and Fly that Melody got up and paid for her drinks, then took her Mustang back to the hotel. Alan was a bit crestfallen that she didn't stay for the whole show, but there would be other shows she could see.

Returning to the hotel, Melody lugged the amp and faulty cord into her hotel room. They were all grouped together like the night before, leaving Melody to get her own room again. She didn't mind at all as she opened up her tool kit and pulled out her soldering iron. Rewiring the amp took nearly a half an hour, with her constantly splicing new lines and making delicate soldering connections to hold the wires in place. It was hard work and her neck ached terribly when she was done. The amp input at the back where Murph's piano keyboard plugged in was all right, but the connecting cord which had the plug that fitted into the input hole had been severed clean off the cord. Melody stripped all the dead wire and casing from the plug, then cutting and twisting the end of the cord, she fitted it together carefully to make a new end. The cord was a bit shorter than usual, but nobody would mind it.

Straightening up, Melody put her tools away and stretched her back carefully. She ached from conducting such precise maneuvers, her back was starting to get sore again, so she jumped onto the bed and lay back for a few moments. Her mind still buzzing from the positive feedback the band had given her about her singing, her mind started thinking of songs she could sing. There had to be horns in at least a few of them, as she wanted the entire band to play with her. Karmastition was an option, as was Amy Winehouse's song You Know I'm No Good. Melody wanted to do Mr. Saxobeat with Lou as well.

"What can I do tonight?" she hemmed and hawed, then realized it would be a good idea if she had a costume. It would have to be approved by the brothers but she knew that she wanted to feminize the traditional suit slightly. Skirts were out, but Melody envisioned that her black ankle boots would work well with the pants, she'd use her low cut white shirt, add the pins of a piano and a trumpet she had bought years ago to put on the lapels of her black blazer. For an accessory, Melody had brought along a musical note scarf that was so long it could be used as a makeshift belt. It was solid white with musical notes and assorted musical paraphenalia on it and would fit in well with the image.

The hotel had a gym that was free to use, so Melody put on shorts, sneakers, and a sport bra, then headed down to the gym.

"So what do you say, Tom?" Jake asked as they took a break. The audience was loving them and cheering them on with enthusiasm whenever they shifted to another song. There were a few people asking where the girl went, but Jake had to announce that Melody's song had been a trial run and she wasn't officially on the bill yet. A few were disappointed, but they understood.

"To what, Jake?"

"Are we doing much better than last night or what?"

"So much better. Last night was a dive and this can't even compare with it."

"I think it's all that press we got when we did all that shit years ago. It made people more aware of us." Jake took credit to himself as the makeup artist touched him up.

"Bullshit," Alan was a few chair over. "that turned people off us, Jake and you know it."

"It did, but then again it worked in our favor as well. We can have it both ways." Elwood mediated, not liking it when Alan got snarky.

"To any extent," Tom put an end to the subject and changed it. "so let's get Melody set up on some songs."

"She's already thinking on them. We'll touch base with her later, all right? As soon as we're done here."

"Good." everyone was interested to see what Melody would come up with. When intermission was over, the refreshed band went back onstage and picked up their instruments and equipment. Alan's mind seemed to have been hijacked by Melody, as that was all he could think about since he met her and he only knew her for 3 days or so. The snarky trumpet player thought she was a loudmouth, though she looked cute when she was asleep, and now he had the new feeling that she was a talented vocalist. There was something about her voice which made her seem almost ethereal, like she wasn't of this world. Alan knew that some singers came from a harsh background and they put that feeling into their songs which was what partially made them such good vocalists. Melody must have remembered some pain or longing that strengthened her voice and gave it such power.

It was an interesting subject to him, and maybe he'd find out more on Melody's vocal prowess later on. The trumpeter raised his instrument up and began to play.

Around 11, the band concluded their gig and packed up their instruments. They were booked to play two more nights so they didn't need to take them back to the cars. The manager showed them a large safe backstage which they could put their instruments in and he locked it with the promise he would unlock it in time for their sound check at about 7 the next night. Satisfied with that, they went back to the hotel where they congregated in Jake and Elwood's room. The horn section sat down on Jake's bed, the guitar section on Elwood's, Jake sat in the uncomfortable armchair and Elwood was on the windowsill. Murph and Willie sat at the little table in one corner with a clipboard and a pen, going over the set list.

"Let me go get Mel," Elwood slid off the sill and went to Melody's room where he knocked twice and opened up the door. "Mel?"

"Right here." wearing the same pajamas from last night, Melody was standing in front of the little closet and brushing her hair, which was wet. "What's up, El?"

"Time for a meeting."

"All right then." she slid on her clogs and black hoodie, then followed Elwood to his room where the band greeted her with a cheer. "Why thanks, guys!" taking a mock bow, she decided to sit down with Matt and Steve, playfully leaning back into Matt a little bit. He giggled and tickled her, making her jump and laugh.

Elwood reassumed his seat and admired the way Melody made their band feel a little more like family. Melody seemed to break some tension with her antics and she was always up for a laugh. "OK, we know why we're here."

"Ya think?" Alan muttered sourly.

"Mel, you have a great voice and we want you to use it!" Jake said ebulliently, still flush with the excitement of earlier. "Have you thought of any songs yet?"

"Yes I have. I don't know many songs with horns in them, but I believe I thought of a few. Lou, do you know Mr. Saxobeat?"

"Yeah, I've done that one a few times." his brown eyes lighted onto hers with a grin. Melody returned it and knew he would be the best.

"Great. I know You Know I'm No Good by Amy Winehouse?" the horn section knew that one as well, so they were all set with that and Karmastition as well. Jake wanted Melody to do a slow song and badgered her to think of a good one.

"Um, I know a good Adele one called Set Fire to the Rain." Murph knew it and so did Willie and Duck. The band tried to stay current with all the new artists and styles to keep up with the times.

"There's a good tune. She's very soulful." Murph made a note on the set list. "Do you like any of the songs we do, Mel?"

"God yes. I love Messin' With the Kid and Soul Man. Minnie the Moocher is freakin' on fire. Alan, I don't know how you do it." Melody deliberately complimented him and gave him a friendly look, hoping that would melt some of the ice in his eyes. He looked a little surprised but gave her a nod of appreciation as Jake discussed a few other things, telling them they'd have a runthrough of the new set list in the afternoon tomorrow to work out the bugs if any came up.

"Sounds good to me," Elwood yawned. "time for bed, guys." the group grunted their assent and went off to their rooms as Melody stayed behind for a moment.

"You two have been great to me." she stood up as Elwood came over to her. "Can't thank you enough." affectionately she gave both brothers a peck on their cheeks and both turned red.

"Well..." even Jake couldn't find much to say then. "Um, is the amp fixed yet?"

"Yes it is. It'll be ready when you want it."

"Great. Off to bed with you now!" he playfully swatted at her and she exited the room giggling.

"Yes, sir!"

Once things had settled down, Melody pulled out a notebook from her suitcase and made an entry in it. "Today was one of the best days. I was hired on as a vocalist for the group and the atmosphere was friggin' electric. Skyfall is a song about keeping your head up high and fighting it through or the popular term now is pay it forward and not dwell on the past. I put that energy into my voice and just let it shine through. In all honesty it was like I was on autopilot or my conscious mind wasn't there at all. It's odd on how some emotions just take a hold of you and make you do things. I must admit that I really wasn't consciously aware of singing the song! Everyone loved it and they wanted more of me. It's nice to feel so wanted, especially after all the shit that happened to me in the past. Who'd have thought that I'd make it this far? Certainly not when my aunt Ella died, or all the shit I've had to get through since. Now it just feels better to me to be out on the road. If I could just figure out Alan Mr-so-called-Fabulous, I might be set. Then again, it's none of my business. Maybe he had a girlfriend who I remind him of? Not likely but I wonder. I paid him a compliment today and at first he looked like I was bullshitting him. I'll work on him a bit. I would hope I could get along with him as well as I get along with everyone else. Matt is a real cutie, I love his laugh, Steve and Duck are like brothers to me, kind of looking out for me and joking around, Willie treats me like he would a sister, as does Murph. Tom's always one for a laugh and Lou's just amazing. Alan's just got to loosen up some. We'll see how this all works out."

She put down the notebook and put it back in her suitcase, more than ready for bed now.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Playing Nice

Elwood and Jake let the band sleep in late that morning. It wasn't until 10 that Matt, Lou, and Willie woke up. Melody was awakened by voices near her door and she sat up, listening.

"That was nice of you guys," Willie rarely gave them any sort of compliment. "I needed that after last night."

"We figured you would. Everyone does need to be up by noon though if we're to get any work done." Melody picked up a brush from her nightstand and began to brush her hair back.

"Yo, what's bothering Alan?"

"I don't know, El," Willie didn't sound concerned. "Lou thinks he's got the hots for Melody but I wouldn't know about that." Melody dropped her brush in surprise and scrambled to pick it up. She resumed brushing her hair, wondering what Alan would ever see in her. She was just a run of the mill average everyday girl with nothing special. As far as she was concerned, there were better women out there more worthy of him. When she put down her hairbrush, she tried to put eyeliner on but was too preoccupied by Willie's proclamation.

"Alan? He doesn't give off that vibe of a horndog."

"Come on Jake, if it was you, would you say anything about it and have the rest of us take the piss out of it for you? He keeps these things pretty quiet."

"There's some sense to that," Jake admitted. "huh. Even our own bandmembers are capable of surprising us."

"Bite me, Jake."

Jake laughed as a door closed, meaning Willie had gone back into his room. Melody put her eyeliner back in her makeup bag, unsuccessful in her attempts to put it on, and dressed for the day. She put on her jeans, low cut blue top which was sleeveless, given that it was still summertime. Melody thought, discarded the jeans, and pulled out her denim cutoffs that were about three inches above the knee. She decided to be nice to Alan that day to try to gauge for herself whether he had any interest in her. The newly minted vocalist tied her sneakers on, picked up her driver's license and some money, put it in her back pocket, then opened up the door and went to the cafe area of the hotel. Jake and Elwood were sitting down at a table and the other bandmembers were nowhere to be seen. She took a look outside and smiled, noticing it was brightly sunny that day.

"Hey, Mel!" Jake chirped.

"Hi, boys. So what's on the agenda for today?" she crossed over to them and sat down, ordering coffee to try to wake her up some.

"We're going to try out the set list this afternoon around about 2 so we can get plenty of time in for the bugs and shit to be worked out."

"Good. So everyone's having a lie in?"

"Yes indeed. We thought it best to let them sleep in, but they have to be up before noon."

"Sounds good. I never thought you weren't a tyrant, Jake." Melody teased as she glanced at her watch and took a pull at her coffee.

"Don't tell the boys that or my rep will be ruined!"

"Touche," Melody gave him a teasing laugh as she drained her mug and stood up.

"Melody, why don't you come with us on a ride around town?" Jake stubbed out his cigarette and stood up. "Might do you some good."

"No thanks, guys. I think I'll head for a walk around the block or something. With this sun, I just want to be out in it."

"I'll come wit ya." Elwood offered, standing up and offering Melody his arm. Bemused, she accepted it, wondering if Elwood was going to pretend to be her bodyguard or something. Nevertheless, it would be interesting to see where it all led. Jake dismissed them jovially and they exited the hotel.

"So what about your past?" Elwood clumsily inquired. "What did you do for a living?"

Melody had to giggle. Elwood was cute when he was a little flustered. She gazed over at the sunshine, feeling it on her shoulders as birds chirped overhead and the occasional car drove by. The faint stink of exhaust was swept away by a gentle breeze and she looked at Elwood benignly.

"Well, I worked in retail for a few years, selling clothes and such."

"I had a few of those jobs," Elwood shuddered. "Hated 'em."

"Me too. There's more to life than just pimping your ass off, getting sales quotas and all that bullshit," she agreed as they rounded a bend. "my dad was always into electronics and he taught me several things about them. I did a few years at a community college and graduated easily. My aunt was a nurse and she taught me a lot about medicine, though I never did have much of a head for that kind of thing."

"Did you faint?" Elwood guessed.

"Nope. I couldn't watch procedures being done on the head. Anything below that I was great with. When I was a teen, I could watch open heart surgery without a trouble, but now I get lightheaded and yes, I'd probably black out."

"Same goes for me. Jake likes slasher movies but I can't bear them." Elwood snaked his hand down and held hers. Melody allowed him to without any thought. He was relaxed and open with her and she thought he was a cutie in his own way. Besides, if Alan did have a crush on her like she'd heard that morning, maybe jealousy would speed him up a bit.

"I don't like them either. Ghost movies are great with maybe a bit of gore. I do love the paranormal."

"Me too." he squeezed her hand. "Do you mind?"

"Nope. I'm not spoken for."

"Mind if I say good?" he teasingly jabbed her in the ribcage.

"Say whatever you want. I'll come out to play if you want." Melody hinted as she put on her sport sunglasses with a crooked grin.

Elwood nearly jumped out of his skin. "Are you hinting at what I think you mean?"

"Well, what do I mean?"

"Um, a little afternoon delight?"

Now she was a bit confused. "The song or the act?"

"I mean..." he turned beet red as they finished their circuit and stood together by the Bluesmobile. Lou waved at them from the room he and Alan shared and they waved back.

"Can I be forward with you?"

"Go ahead, El." Melody was unprepared when Elwood picked her up, put her on the trunk of his car, then kissed her long and hard. Surprised, she stared for a moment, then closed her eyes and smooched him back. When he finished, panting slightly from the long pause, he looked up at Melody, eyes almost pleading behind his shades. She reached over and took them off, taking his face in her hands.

"Do you mind?"

She understood immediately what he was asking for. "Not at all. I think we'd better do it inside, though." he helped her off the trunk and hands together, they entered the hallway where Lou had just come out of his room.

"Is Alan up yet?"Elwood glanced at his watch. There were only 2 hours before they had rehearsal.

"Yeah he is, though he's not a morning person. Be advised." Lou grinned at them and went off to play games with Tom and Willie in the games room. Elwood opened up Melody's door and led her inside like a gentleman. She passed in front of him and he made a playful grab at her ass, making her squeal loudly.

"Before this goes any further, I should tell you that I'm just lookin' to scratch an itch," he warned her as they sat on the bed. "you?"

"Same here. No strings attached?"

"Ditto."

"Glad that's out of the way then!" Melody took off his hat and put it on her head. "Giddap!"

When Alan had awakened that morning around 10:30, he had just gotten out of the shower when he heard Lou talking to Tom and Duck.

"Yeah, I looked out that window and Melody and Elwood were sucking face." the trumpeter's heart fell some and he took a peek out the window himself. Melody was sitting on top of the Bluesmobile smooching Elwood. Nothing would disturb them, not even a 3 ring circus. Alan scowled at the scene and brushed the curtains back to where they were. He attired himself for the day and sat down on the bed, looking at a book but not really seeing it. Lou recognized his mood easily enough and left with the others.

Some mumbling was heard from the next room where Melody's was. Alan recognized her voice and Elwood's, then there was a series of noises he did not need to lend his imagination to or guess what they were. Knowing exactly what was going on in the next room, he pulled out his Walkman and played a cassette tape, leaning back and closing his eyes against the amorous hubbub next door.

When the tape ran out, Alan pulled out one earpiece, listening for anything coming from the next room. When he heard nothing, he sat up and put his Walkman away. The two had probably gone outside to do it in the Bluesmobile, he thought bitterly. Jake had been a randy horndog on the road before and the band was used to his going with some hooker after a show and not returning to the next morning, but he would never have thought Elwood would have done the mattress mambo with their own technical director/vocalist.

"Wow, those look great." Elwood's voice drifted to him. Alan paused, a part of him hoping they were talking about the amp Melody had repaired yesterday.

"Yeah? They're mine." OK, they weren't talking about that amp...

"I know. How come you're not more excited about them?"

"Because I've had them for a long time, Elwood. The thrill kinda goes away after awhile."

"But still, I love 'em."

"Why is it you men get so hyped up over the least things?"

"Least things? I don't have those!"

"Elwood!" Melody began laughing, something Alan hadn't heard before. She would giggle and chuckle, but this was a full belly laugh none of them had ever heard previously. Elwood seemed taken aback as well, if the silence on his part was any indicator.

"Come on, Melody!" Alan did not want to hear any more of what they were up to. He stood up, tucked his wallet into his pocket, and left the room in a huff, slamming the door.

Melody was picking up a bottle of nail polish that had fallen to the floor and Elwood came out of the bathroom. He got Melody in a front to back hug and held up her hands. "Like I said, they look great."

"Like I said, they're real and they're mine." Elwood laughed and necked her a bit. "Come on, shouldn't we get dressed and head on over for the rehearsal?"

"If you insist." he play-whined.

"I do! Unless you want me to sound like shit in front of people. I'll blame you and get Jake to fire you from the band."

"Oh, play dirty now, don't you?"

"As I recall about 10 minutes ago, you were the one who was playing dirty!" Melody pulled on her shirt and Elwood found his sunglasses. They pulled themselves together and hightailed it out to the Mustang, Elwood insisting that she drive him.

"Just remember, you asked for it." Melody drove like a normal person, but as they pulled into the parking spot, she yanked up on the handbrake and drifted the car. She did a J-turn into a parking spot and thumped the car into neutral, cutting the engine.

"You're a natural," Elwood commented as he got up. "I've never seen anyone do that before."

"Thanks, El. Let's hurry up and get this rehearsal under way." she put the keys in her pocket and they walked over to the entrance.

The band was tuning up, Alan looking more sullen than usual. He barely grunted a greeting to everyone's cheerful voices, just grabbed his trumpet and began to play riffs. Murph and Tom jammed with him for a little bit while Jake set himself up for their opening number Gimmie Some Lovin'. He counted down and the horns began to play while Elwood and Melody sat at the bar, talking about the set list and agreeing on the order.

The first number over, Elwood did a tune called Rubber Biscuit that Melody thought was funny, but more of a funny groan than an actual laugh. The third tune was Messin' With the Kid, then Lou gestured to Melody as he began the opening to Mr. Saxobeat. She jumped up onstage as Elwood and Jake went offstage. Tom and Alan were not needed for backup vocals so they went offstage as well, the latter peering through the curtains of the wings to see how Melody was.

"You make me this,  
Bring me up,  
Bring me down,  
Play it sweet,  
Make me move like a freak  
Mr. Saxobeat

"Make me this,  
please me up,  
please me down,  
pleasing sweet,  
Make me move like a freak  
Mr. Saxobeat

"Oh, yeah, mmm yeah, mmm yeah, mmm yeah...  
Oh, yeah, mmm yeah, mmm yeah, mmm yeah...  
Oh, yeah, mmm yeah, mmm yeah, mmm yeah...  
Oh, yeah, mmm yeah, mmm yeah, mmm yeah...

"Hey, sexy boy, set me free, don't be so shy, play with me  
My dirty boy, can't you see that you belong next to me.  
Hey, sexy boy, set me free, don't be so shy, play with me  
My dirty boy, can't you see, you are the one I need.

"You make me this,  
bring me up,  
bring me down,  
playing sweet  
Make me move like a freak,  
Mr. Saxobeat.

"Makes me this,  
brings me up,  
brings me down,  
dancing sweet  
Makes me move like a freak.

"Oh, yeah, mmm yeah, mmm yeah, mmm yeah...  
Oh, yeah, mmm yeah, mmm yeah, mmm yeah...  
Oh, yeah, mmm yeah, mmm yeah, mmm yeah...  
Oh, yeah, mmm yeah, mmm yeah, mmm yeah...

"You make me this,  
Bring me up,  
Bring me down,  
Play it sweet,  
Make me move like a freak  
Mr. Saxobeat!" There had been a lot of repetition in the song and it really wasn't much of a song, truth be told. Lou and Melody had devised sax solos to cut down on repetition and to showcase Lou's brilliant skill. When they were done, there was applause from everyone else and not much else. Jake and Elwood did Funky Nassau with Melody coming in about halfway to sing with them. Melody didn't care for reggae and Caribbean tunes, but she had to admit that Funky Nassau was a very catchy tune.

During the song, the band discovered not only could Melody croon like Adele, but she also packed a fiery punch much like Aretha Franklin, which was one of Melody's idols. She came out with a powerful ending to the song that seemed to leave everyone dumbfounded. Enjoying it, she watched everyone seem to regain their senses and begin to play the next song which was Soul Man. Minnie the Moocher came up next, B-Movie Boxcar Blues, Love Light, I Don't Know, Born in Chicago, and Jailhouse Rock. Melody was called up for You Know I'm No Good.

"Meet you downstairs in the bar and hurt,  
Your rolled up sleeves in your skull t-shirt,  
You say 'what did you do with him today?',  
And sniffed me out like I was Tanqueray,  
'Cause you're my fella, my guy,  
Hand me your stella and fly,  
By the time I'm out the door,  
You tear men down like Roger Moore,

"I cheated myself,  
Like I knew I would,  
I told you I was trouble,  
You know that I'm no good,

"Upstairs in bed, with my ex boy,  
He's in a place, but I can't get joy,  
Thinking on you in the final throes,  
This is when my buzzer goes,  
Run out to meet you, chips and pita,  
You say 'when we married',  
'Cause you're not bitter,  
'There'll be none of him no more,'  
I cried for you on the kitchen floor,

"I cheated myself,  
Like I knew I would,  
I told you I was trouble,  
You know that I'm no good,

"Sweet reunion, Jamaica and Spain,  
We're like how we were again,  
I'm in the tub, you on the seat,  
Lick your lips as I soak my feet,  
Then you notice little carpet burn,  
My stomach drops and my guts churn,  
You shrug and it's the worst,  
Who truly stuck the knife in first

"I cheated myself,  
Like I knew I would  
I told you I was trouble,  
You know that I'm no good.."

The band played her out and then she sat back down at the bar as the band went through the rest of the tunes, New Orleans, Sweet Home Chicago, She Caught the Katy, King Bee, Cheaper to Keep Her, and Lookin' For A Fox.

"What a great set list," Melody murmured as she checked the time. It was almost 5 now and the band was winding down for a break until showtime. "I'm going out for a bit, guys. I'll be back around 7, OK?"

"All right. Have fun!" Jake waved her off as the horn section put down their instruments and began filing off the stage. Melody disappeared as Elwood came out from the wings and shoved his harmonica in his pocket. Matt and Steve were gossiping about Melody and the Amy Winehouse song as Duck unhooked the bass guitar, standing it up on the stand he'd brought in. Alan watched her go as he set down his trumpet, a brief longing look came into his face, then he mentally cursed himself for being sentimental, even for a moment. Lou looked at him out of the corner of his eye, feeling more sure than ever that Alan did have a thing for Melody. The sax player shrugged inwardly and put his instrument down, resolving not to get involved. He knew Alan's last girlfriend had treated him badly, and if Melody was going to be loose with other men, then Alan getting involved with her would definitely be a crap shoot.

Outside the venue, a shadowy figure was leaning against a white colored Chevy Astro van. The silhouetted form pulled out a picture of Melody from a jacket pocket and the hiss and spurt of a match being struck and lighting up. Across the lot, Melody jumped into her Mustang and drove off.

The figure lit a cigarette and burned the picture of Melody, dropping it on the middle of the asphalt parking lot as the person climbed back into the van and went off in the direction that Melody was heading. The sun was setting right into Melody's eyes as she drove and she swore, pulling down the visor and putting her shades on. Not knowing where she was going. she cut a neat circle and pulled up at a deserted children's play park. Melody sighed and rapped the steering wheel with her fingers, wishing that she knew what to do next.

Popping a tape into her cassette deck, she turned on her own favorite music and rocked out, knowing that she was not being too loud. The original singer's voice enveloped her own and the more Melody didn't hear her own voice, the more she really let go. It was natural, her not liking her own voice when she sang. She was her own worst critic in that way. Elwood and Jake had taught her to trust her voice, she believed them when they told her that she was great. Neither one of them would lie on that front and she knew that the band wouldn't either.

The band enabled her to restore a part of herself that she thought she'd lost touch of. After all that had happened to her, Melody had tried to cut herself off from her emotions, believing that they were weaknesses that would put her off track in her life. Emotions were a nuisance anyway, as Melody had been quite frustrated after her aunt died when the grief just hit her and it would not stop for anything. Not liking being almost paralyzed by her emotions, the technical director had vowed to better contain her emotions after that. She still had nightmares about her aunt's death, who the murderer was, and all that, but when she was up onstage and gotten back in touch when with her emotions, she felt more whole.

It was reclaiming a piece of herself. Now her emotions weren't all over the place, but it made her feel better about herself as a person. On the stage, she had power over people, to make them feel the way she was singing, and to be honest, she found it addicting.

Heaving a sigh, she looked out over the vanishing horizon and glanced at the clock in the car. It was nearing 7, so she turned on the car and started back.

About halfway to the nightclub, Melody applied the brakes to stop at a spotlight, only to find that they were not working. She stomped on the pedal and when there was no response to the disc brakes, she managed to coast through the intersection without a problem. Swearing royally, she tried the handbrake, but found that had been cut as well. With no brakes and coasting down a small hill, Melody put the car in neutral and honked the horn as she steered towards the club parking lot, hoping that the imminent collision would be soft enough so there was no permanent damage to her car.

The car hit a streetlight in the parking lot at about 30 miles an hour and all Melody heard was a loud cracking sound. Shakily, she pushed her hair away from her face and got out on rubber legs to see the damage. Opening up the hood was a task in itself, as she had to thump down hard and make it pop open. In her car there was a toolchest in the trunk, so she opened it up, seized a pair of pliers, and bent the hood catch back to the way it was supposed to be. Leaning over the internal engine, she spied the radiator hose which had been unharmed. "Could be worse." she muttered, seeing the radiator bracket had been shattered all the way through.

"Melody?" Alan was coming towards her. "I heard a crunch. What's up?" she crouched down and looked at the pooling puddle of fluid just under her car. Watching her bend down and touch the fluid, she brought it up to her nose and smelled it.

"Brake fluid. Oh, god," she stood up and looked back at Alan. "I could have died!" she threw her tools in the backseat and locked the car, slipping her keys in her pocket.

"What? You're not dyin'!" he started as Melody's face drained of color. She started to walk towards the club, but Alan was having none of that. Taking her hand and pulling her towards him. "What's going on?"

"Alan-someone just tried to kill me."

"What?!" it was unreal to him, like something you'd see only on cop shows. Melody fidgeted nervously and met Alan's eyes.

"You heard me," she spoke in a shocked tone of voice. "someone cut my brake lines in hopes that I would die in a fiery crash."

"How can you say such things?" he exclaimed.

"But it's true! I'm gonna need to tow it to an all night shop and hope they have replacement brake lines and radiator for this car." Melody shivered, not entirely from fright.

Alan didn't know what to do, so he pulled her into the club, asked for the local towing service, and left it up to Melody to make the call. The trumpeter got up onto the stage and went behind it to the makeup stations where the bandmembers were, gossiping.

"Guys, Melody's just had a car accident," he held up his hand to forestall any exclamations. "she's absolutely fine, but the car had its brake lines cut."

"Where is she now?" Duck stood up.

"Talking to a towing service and an all night repair shop." Alan replied. "Let's keep it real. She'll come and tell you later on, so let's keep going with the show."

"Right." Elwood agreed, exchanging a worried glance with his brother. The two of them were used to being pursued, but when it came down to a member of the band, they would get edgy and agitated. Melody being the target of nefarious activity would have them calling on God to protect her with everything they possessed. Jake fidgeted idly, waiting for her to come back so he could see with his own eyes that she was fine.

The show went off without a hitch that night, Melody was welcomed and cheered on with the songs she sang, everything went well. The band chose not to say or do anything that alluded to her crash and Melody found that easier to deal with. She sequestered away that worried part of herself and put on what she called her singing mentality. It was after the encore that the crowd finally left around midnight and the bandmembers went to bed, exhausted, except Alan. He found himself worrying about Melody now and knew he wasn't going to rest until he spoke with her. Opening up his hotel door that night, he walked down the hall to Melody's door and rapped quietly.

"Who is it?" she inquired at the gentle knock.

"It's me, Alan." he paused. Should he say anything else or just roll with it?

"Enter." the trumpeter opened up the door, happy not to have to say very much.

Alan entered the room, blinking at the darkness. The streetlight was giving some light into the room, so he could just make out her silhouette sitting on the bed. The blinds made eerie silhouettes themselves cast against the door, vaguely reminding Melody of a prison cell. She pulled off her robe and threw it against the chair, but missed so it slithered down onto the floor. Alan crossed over to her and sat down on the bed near Melody. If she saw him, she didn't do anything at all. The young woman sat as motionless as a stone.

"Are you all right?"

Melody gave a halfhearted snigger. "Someone's made an attempt on my life, Alan. No I am not all right."

"Glad your sense of humor is still intact." he edged closer and saw that she was shivering. Alan picked up the fleece blanket at the foot of the bed and draped it over her shoulders, rubbing them a little bit in an attempt to comfort her. Melody felt safer with Alan near her and leaned into him a little bit with a sigh. A little surprised, he welcomed it and spent a few minutes saying nothing, just giving her the support he knew that she needed. The trumpeter felt protective then; he mentally dared anyone to mess with her when he was around.

"Why don't you file a report with the cops?"

"Because nothing will convince them that the brake lines were cut. Those lines were only a few years old and had a lot of life left in them. You know how slimy cops are, Alan." she gave a little sniffle.

"Are you crying?"

"I'm trying not to."

"Don't," he hugged her. "let it go. It's good for you."

Melody shakily sighed again and did exactly what Alan told her to. It felt good to her, like shedding a skin layer. All the anxiety and shock seemed to lose their grip on her psyche and she mentally shut herself off from those feelings. A part of her wondered if whoever had killed her aunt was gunning for her too, but it seemed far too possible in her mind. She didn't know what had caused anyone to kill Ella, maybe she had been in the wrong place at the wrong time. A month ago she had to force herself to stop speculating on it in order to move on with her life. It would be far too easy to fall into that rut again, so Melody mentally vowed not to go there. All she knew for a fact was that she would not sleep easily in the nights to come.

It was about five minutes before she composed herself again and looked up at Alan, though he didn't see it through the dark. "Thanks."

"Anytime. Do you know who would want to do this to you?" he tightened his grip on her shoulders a bit more.

"No idea. My aunt was murdered, but we don't know by whom. I suppose it was only a matter of time before they got a fix on me. I might be on borrowed time now, Alan." he squeezed her hand for a moment.

"Not if we have anything to do with it." he swore. "How's your car?"

"They have a replacement radiator in stock and they'll get the brake lines in tomorrow. The car should be ready tomorrow afternoon."

"Good." Melody didn't know how to properly address the feeling in her mind so she just went for it bluntly like Jake would.

"After what nearly happened to me today I don't want to be alone. Alan, would you? Just for tonight?"

"Sure. I wouldn't want to be alone after all that either." he sympathized as Melody stretched out on the bed. He pulled the fleece blanket over himself and laid down beside her. She was still shaking a bit and he realized it was just the delayed reaction from the entire accident. It would stop eventually.

It took an hour for Alan to fall asleep, but Melody did not. The adrenaline that had kicked on during the accident was taking a long time to wear off and she tried to keep herself calm and collected. Knowing that she would not be able to do anything that night, Melody resolved to not let the assailant or whoever it was know that they had gotten to her. Staying calm and collected with her resolve would at least control how she felt for awhile.

Turning her head towards Alan, she saw he was gently snoring and she had to giggle to herself. A trumpeter with excellent control over his own lungs snoring? Odder things had happened. If someone had told her that she would be on a bed with him and sleeping a day ago, both of them would have laughed at the person outright. Melody's respect for Alan went up another notch as he'd been the only one who'd noticed her eventful arrival back and seemed to want to give her a hand. The singer nearly regretted her tryst with Elwood that afternoon, but it had been to say the least, fun. Besides Alan was only being friendly towards her, there hadn't been any clue that he wanted to further things into the romantic zone.

Melody rolled her eyes. She was overthinking things again. As her father liked to say, all things will be revealed in their proper time. Closing her eyes, she called up on memories of times with her two brothers, which relaxed her and put her to sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: A Good Old Time

When Alan woke up the next morning, he briefly forgot what had happened last night until he turned and saw Melody lying asleep near him. The memories rushed back in an avalanche and he sat up, trying not to disturb her. It was around 8 AM and he knew this was the time when Jake and Elwood preferred to be up so they could spend their time traveling. Elwood had driven all night before but the band didn't like that idea at all. Jake would always insist on an early start not to be rushed by anything and everyone had to agree that there was some logic to that.

For a moment, Alan didn't know exactly what he wanted to do. Being seen with Melody in her room would give everyone the wrong impression, but he didn't want to leave her alone either. Fortunately, Melody had begun to stir and her eyes opened up to see Alan leaning over her and looking to see if she was awake or not.

"Hey," he greeted her. "sleep all right?"

"Fairly." she sighed. "Go on and get ready for the day. I'll be fine. Coming in my car?"

"You bet. It's all fixed now isn't it?"

"Yeah." the guys at the shop had done a speedy job on her car. Melody didn't think that they would have been able to, seeing as how radiators were usually ordered from the distributor, but Mustangs were extremely popular and to her good fortune, there had been one in stock. Brake lines were a messy job to do, but they had done a good job on them and Melody was happy to see her car looking the same when she stepped out with the others in the parking lot.

One of the workmen had even mended the hood latch at no cost to her. Melody ran her hands over it, pleased. The gleaming new radiator seemed to smile at her with the stainless steel hose clamps glinting in the morning light. She tossed her things in the back as Willie and Alan got into her car. Jake and Elwood led the parade and the two other cars followed.

"Well, what's next on the agenda?" Willie asked from the rear seat. Alan pulled out a file that Melody kept in the glove compartment that had a list of their gigs on it.

"Says here a county fair," he looked outside the windows where it was still green. "don't they usually happen in the fall?"

"It's September 10th, Alan."

"Is it? Still feels like summer."

"I know." Melody drove through the rural roads with the rest of their convoy, answering questions and joking with Willie in the back. Alan shrank back some from the conversation, not really finding a loophole he could grab onto. He watched Melody drive for a long moment, admiring the way she maneuvered the car and shifted the gears. The trumpet player wasn't really coordinated enough to shift a standard very well. Half the time he would grind the gears and for reasons unknown to him, he managed to throw a clutch completely.

"You're being really quiet, Alan," Willie commented. "something on your mind?"

"No." he half lied.

"Maybe this'll cheer you up." Melody pulled off the road and directly into a cornfield.

"The hell?!"

"Watch this!" she careened the car off a small hill, jumping it far enough so the car burst out of the field right in front of the Bluesmobile. The Bluesmobile didn't even flinch as Melody pulled in front of them, giggling and eyeing Elwood in the rearview mirror. He had a big grin on his face and he looked amused by her creativity. Jake was swearing colorfully and the other bandmembers looked stunned.

"Wow!" Willie was impressed. "You do that in the drag races?"

"It's second nature to me now." Melody replied as they passed by fields of pasture with horses and cows.

"I'd like to see you drive, girl."

"I'm sure you will sometime."

"Alan, what are you thinkin' about up there? Usually you're a chatterbox."

"I dunno..."

"Remember the time after that really wild gig and some drunk guy attacked you and Tom?" Willie shook his head. "I'd never thought that would happen."

Melody rolled her eyes. "How's that? Tell me."

Alan was very reluctant to relive the memory, so Willie took up the narrative. "We were in Colorado, Boulder I think it was, and we were doing some snow fest dance thing for the people. It was at night and there was a lot of alcohol and of course people got fully shit faced. We finished up our last song and as we were leaving, some guy singled out Alan because he looked like someone the guy knew, muttered something we didn't understand, and cut him with a knife. None of us knew he got hurt until we were in the Caddy and we saw blood dripping down from a bigass cut he had on his right upper arm. Murph took him to the hospital and got him stitched up, but he couldn't play for a bit until he healed up somewhat."

"Shit," Melody sympathized as they went straight through a 4 way stop. "I hope none of you got hurt like that ever."

"We haven't since then," Alan spoke up. "some of us got sick sometimes and that's about it."

"Ugh, disease. I got more than my fair share of them, I'll tell ya."

"Damn."

"Yeah, Willie. I went hiking with my aunt when I was around 15 or so, and about a week later, I got sick with Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever from an infected tick bite. I was in the hospital for a few weeks with that one. God I never felt so miserable before."

"I can imagine."

They found the fairgrounds just after dark and had to drive a few miles before they found a B&B that could take them all in. Space was limited, so Elwood and Jake with Murph had a room, the guitar section plus Willie had a room, and the horn players and Melody had a room. Melody had a suspicion that Jake put Alan and her together on purpose, but she couldn't prove anything.

"I heard this fair tomorrow has got a demolition derby," Duck told Melody as he opened up the door to a room. "maybe you can sign on and go give 'em hell!"

"I'd love that!" her eyes lit up, glad she had her Nomex jumpsuit in the trunk of the car. Duck laughed and gently rapped her shoulder.

"Would be fun. I'd love to see you race."

"I'm gonna sign up tomorrow!" she put the key in the lock of her room and opened it up. Two single beds and two cots awaited them as per their request and Melody claimed a bed. She chucked her suitcase on top of her bed to show that it was hers and plopped down on top of it. Lou and Tom came in, the latter taking the other bed and leaving Alan and Lou the cots.

"All right, have we got anything I need to fix?"

"I don't think so," Tom shook his head. "the repairs to the amp and the mikes have held up really well."

"I'm glad of that." she was starting to feel tired and saw the time was 11 PM. "I'm retiring now if I want to be fresh for tomorrow."

"OK. Elwood and Jake called a quick meeting but we won't be long." Tom knew she was on edge still after the accident. Melody waved him out with a smile, put on her pajamas and got ready for bed. She had just turned out the light and was starting to drift off when the door opened up and the horn players came in. That had been quite a quick meeting, she thought, listening to them.

"Mel?" Lou called in a quiet tone of voice. A lamp was turned on and she could feel the light on her face.

"Turn that off," Tom hissed. "she's sleeping."

"Oops." Lou snapped it off and Melody heard sounds that were of him getting his things ready for bed.

"She looks cute." if Melody wasn't pretending to be asleep, she would have blushed. Alan thought she was cute! It had been a long time since she had heard anyone mention her and that 4 letter adjective. A blanket was pulled up to her shoulders and she sighed, quite at ease with the men she was sharing the room with.

There were a few moments of Tom and Alan getting their bedroom routines done and before long the entire room was quiet. Melody could tell by the breathing patterns of Tom and Lou that they'd gone to sleep pretty easily, but Alan had not. She had a strange desire to talk to Alan about what was troubling him, but she reasoned it might have had something to do with her. Trying not to feel guilty, she turned in his direction and fell into a troubled sleep.

Alan turned restlessly, trying to sleep, but it didn't seem to do him any good. He did sleep for about two hours but after that, he woke up and couldn't get back to sleep again. He was lying in his bed trying to think of what might soothe him enough to sleep, when he heard Melody's voice. Sitting up, he saw Melody stirring and went to her bedside, sitting on the edge of the bed. The vocalist was making frightened sounds as her eyes moved underneath their lids frantically. Remembering what his mom used to do to him when he had nightmares, he put his hands on Melody's and uttered her name in a whisper. It took a few tries, but she stopped making noise and turned to face him.

"Come on, Mel. Wake up now." he brushed away stray hair from her eyes as she opened them.

"Alan?" her voice was raspy with sleep.

"Yeah."

"What is it?"

"You were dreaming." at that reminder, Melody paled and looked up at him from where she lay, emotions fighting for control of her face. She remembered the dream but did not want to, she was angry at herself for having that dream, and she wanted to thank Alan for waking her up. Melody settled for the latter, sitting upright and hugging him. He was taken aback at first, but he welcomed the hug and embraced her back. When she pulled away, Alan could sense she'd stiffened up her resolve and vowed to fight back against her internal torment.

"All right now?"

"I think so. How about you? I knew you weren't sleeping earlier."

"How do you know? You were asleep when we came back in."

"Well Alan, my aunt taught me that when people fall asleep, their breathing sounds different than it would if you were awake."

"Well arent you clever," he grunted playfully. "I can't sleep any night in a new place. It happens."

"Makes sense."

"Yes it does. Do you think you can sleep now?"

"I should be asking you that, Alan."

He chuckled and studied her in the very low light of the moon. "I'll be fine. You?"

"The same."

"I'll take your word for it." going back to his cot, he surprisingly did fall asleep quickly. Melody waited until she heard his breathing patterns deepen like the other two, and went back to sleep herself.

This time, there were no dreams to plague either one of them.

The following afternoon, the band set up for their performance that night and when they were done, they were free to explore the fair until showtime. Melody, along with Matt, Duck, Alan, Steve, and Murph, set off for the drag racing event. She managed to flag down the attendant and ask if she could enter the demolition derby.

"The derby's filled up, but we have space in the competition." the cheery attendant told her.

"What does that have? What kind of competition?"

"Oh, the drivers have to do a certain maneuver at the right time and award them points. There's best drifting, powersliding, elevens..."

"Sign me up! Is this personal car use or do you have one for me?" Melody wrote her name down under the categories and looked over at her posse with a grin.

"We have the cars for you, all outfitted with bucket seats, roll cages, five point harnesses, and even wheelie bars." she was shown the selection and Melody chose a rear wheel drive sedan with a turbocharger.

"Great! The competition starts in 10 minutes." the number of the car was 21, which the attendant wrote down and made sure Melody had a helmet.

"Well, I can't wait to see you out there!" Duck proclaimed. "I bet you'll knock them all down!"

"I hope so! Go find your seats now." everyone wished her luck and Alan was the last, his eyes seemingly telling her not to draw attention to herself, but Melody ignored it. Her competitive edge tended to drown out everything else, something that would frequently annoy others. Alan wished her luck, told her to be safe, and followed the others into the stands.

Strapping herself into the car, she started it up and drove out to the starting line. The MC was there on what looked like a lifeguard stand, right beside the 3 judges, and though Melody could not see her friends in the crowd, she knew they were there. Revving the engine, she waited for the MC to announce the first event.

"Number elevens! Go!" the checkered flag was waved and Melody knew exactly what to do. Locking up the rear brakes, she accelerated and threw the car forwards, the rear tires screeching on the tarmac. Crossing the finish line, she turned the car around and watched the 3 attendants measuring up the lines. Melody was happy to see that her black tire marks looked the longest, but she waited for the final score.

"Number 6, 27 inches! Number 30, 32 inches! Number 21, 33 and a half inches!" Melody turned a donut in celebration, then reset herself at the starting line for the next event.

"The donut test!" the attendant spoke through a megaphone. "Each participant will accelerate down the main drag strip, lock up the car's front wheels, and use rear wheel drive to rotate the car into a complete circle! Points will be given for acceleration, smoothness and turning radius, and how neatly they can turn a donut! Each person must turn a donut 3 times. Number 21 goes first!" at the drop of the flag, Melody did the best she could. She didn't like turning donuts very much, as even though her bodily constitution was sound, she always was a little green when doing the stunt.

By the time she was done, she parked off to the side and put it in park, closing her eyes and willing her stomach to crawl back down to its normal place. Not paying attention to the others turning their donuts, she did perk up enough to hear the end result.

"Number 30!" she knew she wouldn't do that one.

"Next up is the braking test! The drivers have to accelerate to 50 miles an hour and brake before they hit those cardboard people. The person with the shortest braking distance wins." three crude effigies of people were being set up at the end of the line. "And go!" she shifted the car and got up to 50, then braked.

"The winner is number 6!" the little mini behind Melody had the shortest braking time. She cursed, but took it all in good humor. It was fun and games and she made a mental effort to control her competitive side.

The car drifting test she did win, but the powersliding one went to number 30, as it was bigger and had more momentum around the bend. To Melody it was impressive to watch, the driver kicking the tail of the car out in a broad swipe before accelerating again.

"The final test is the famous handbrake turn!" the MC crowed. "Our drivers will begin in reverse, accelerating to the halfway point, then turning the car around and continuing to the finish line!"

Melody rubbed her hands together excitedly. She'd always loved the handbrake turn and did them all the time. When the flag dropped, she leaped forward, accelerating the car, then threw the handbrake, causing the tires to screech loudly as she slammed the car into forward, kicking up a new tire track on the tarmac. Crossing the line was easy, and she did another handbrake turn to show off.

"And the winner is number 6 with number 21 placing second!" Melody stood on the little raised platform with the others in good humor, took off her helmet, then accepted the gaudy medal on a thick lanyard that was woven to look like a road center line with black around the edges. She laughed and waved to the crowd as everyone cheered. A few minutes later, she returned the helmet and the attendants drove the cars off.

Her posse was waiting for her as she stepped through the doors. Duck enveloped her in a hug, telling her she was fantastic. The others followed suit and Murph suggested they go and look at the livestock.

"Horses first!" he added. Alan groaned.

"You guys go ahead. I'll be watching the draft horses pulling." he walked off as Matt put his arm around Melody.

"He's nervous around farm animals. Alan is a New Yorker." he told her as they walked towards the barns.

"Oh."

"We all on the other hand, love this stuff!" Steve led the way into the first horse barn.

Melody and the others toured the horse barns, the draft horses, the oxen and cows, goats, pigs, sheep. They saw sheepdog demonstrations, looked at rabbits and guinea pigs, chickens, turkeys, guinea fowl, then they caught up with the rest of the band on the midway.

"Don't win anything big, we can't stuff them into the cars!" Jake cautioned as he watched Willie toss a basketball into a hoop. Melody and Elwood went on the carousel together, giggling and making fun of everyone else. The horn section tried out the ferris wheel, of which Melody, Jake and Elwood would not do, due to vertigo and fear of heights. The guitar section played on the bumper cars, rear ending each other and laughing hard the entire time. Murph led Melody over to the horse raceway and they watched the tanker truck spray down water to keep the dust down.

Everyone was having such a good time they almost forgot they were to play that night. Around 7:30 darkness started falling and the MC called them to the stage for warmups.

"Thank you and goodnight!" Jake and Elwood bowed as did the band and Melody, then they filed offstage with their gear. It was 10 at night and the fair was closing down for the next day which was their final day. Melody took the mikes, put them in the assigned bag, and put them in her car trunk while Tom brought a small amp to fit in there as well.

"One hell of a night, right?" he leaned back against her car as they waited for the others.

"Oh yes. It'll live on in infamy."

"Damn straight."

"You all right? You've been edgy since your accident."

"Tom, I shouldn't tell you anything about this. I don't want to put anyone in danger."

"Alan knows."

"Alan chose to get involved," she retorted. "I can't have anyone else knowing. You'll be happier if you don't."

"You're not in trouble with the law, are you?"

"No I'm not."

"Well, I trust you."

"I'm glad." Melody gave him an apologetic smile, not realizing that Alan was behind them both. He put his trumpet case away and then beckoned to Melody, drawing her over to where he was standing. She looked at him questioningly as he took a grip on his resolve and boldly asked her a question.

"What specifically happened with your aunt?"

"Not here! Why do you ask?"

"I heard you telling Tom he was better off not knowing. I realized that I know some, but I don't know much. I should hear the whole story from you."

"Alan, I don't want to-"

"That ship has sailed," he interrupted brusquely. "I need all the info. How else will I-we protect you?"

Melody's eyes narrowed at the insinuation that she needed protection, but knew now was not the time to be arrogant about protection. If they could protect her, fine and they would do a better job, particularly Alan, if he did know the whole story. He was watching her, a no nonsense look on his face, arms crossed defensively as if to fend off an argument that he knew was coming.

"Fine."

That shocked him. "What?" he dropped the defensive pose.

"I'll tell you when we get back, all right? I mean, you are correct, you do need to know."

"I'm glad you see that." they got into the Mustang with Steve and Lou.

Back at the B&B, the band retired for the night and Alan with Melody sat downstairs in the little living room. The room was rather hideous, with flowered tacky looking wallpaper, mismatched furniture, and the entire room reeked of old cats and dog. Cherubs looked down on them from the fireplace mantle, their creepy smiles giving the occupants an odd feeling.

"All right, I'll tell you all that I know. Remember there are some holes in this story that I can't fill." Melody told Alan as an elderly yellow labrador wandered into the room and sat down in front of her, sticking a paw into her lap, asking for pats.

"Yeah, I got that." they petted the animal who licked their hands playfully.

"It was 3 months ago in early July. I was just coming home from a coffee shop gig with a local band, and I got a message on my phone from a cop named Mercer who told me that my aunt was found dead in an alley early that morning. He said she was killed with a gun and robbed, and that was all the cops could do. They tried finger printing, testing to see if she was drunk or stoned, nothing. Mercer said it looked to him like a gang or mob hit or something, but I have my doubts. There must have been something going on that the cops didn't pick up. I have a hard time believing that it was just a random attack of manslaughter."

"Do you think you're looking too much into this?"

"Honestly I don't think I'm looking enough into this," she admitted, fondling the dog's ear. "maybe it's an old boyfriend or something."

"Mel, you can't keep second guessing it. Move on with your life."

"I am doing that, believe me. You should have seen me after my aunt's funeral."

"Why?"

"Because of the stress of everything, I had a nervous breakdown. I had a week long stay at the Ha Ha House and then I started some therapy as an outpatient that really helped."

"I'm glad of that," Alan told her as he rubbed the dog's other ear. "look at all the shit you've been through. It only makes you stronger. Adds character as my dad would say."

The labrador licked Melody's chin, making her laugh. "You know Alan, I wonder if there is something in my mind that I'm missing."

"From your stay at the Ha Ha House?" he found her description of a mental hospital quite funny and started guffawing.

"Have you ever heard of hypnosis?"

"No."

"It's where a practicioner hypnotizes you and sends you into your subconscious mind."

"Hang on, is this like that guy who make another guy cluck like a chicken if he heard a certain sound?"

"Pretty much. That's just a party trick. The hypnotist would ask me questions and lead me to what I don't remember."

"You believe in that stuff?"

"Some people are susceptible, some are not."

"Yeah, but still," Alan made a face. "sure you'd want to do that?"

"If there was any other way I would have done it by now." she raised tired eyes to her friend. "Maybe my dreams will make sense after."

"What dreams?"

"Where a guy comes in and abducts me. He then tells me I'll face the same fate as my aunt. I think my aunt's warning me through the only way possible."

"Do you think the dead influence your dreams like that?"

"Do you think the dead ever truly leave us?" she countered. "I believe that they look after us until we join them."

"What was her name?"

"Ella Calloway."

"Not ringin' any bells here. Come on, think you can sleep?"

"Yep. It's been a good night, all things considering." she followed him upstairs to the room they shared with Tom and Lou.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: A Shot In the Dark

"So guys, we've got a few days before our next gig," Jake announced the next day. "I want to haul ass up there to the next spot, then we can fart around and do whatever."

"Sounds good, Jake." Elwood agreed in his usual monotone. The band assented and they found themselves on the road before 10 AM. Like before, Alan was riding with Melody, only this time he was the only one so they could speak freely.

Melody was looking good to his eyes that day, as she was wearing a pink low cut top and short denim cutoffs with her usual sneakers on. She had her hair back in its usual braid, hoop earrings in, and she was wearing her sport shades. Unaware he was staring at her, Melody stepped on the clutch and downshifted the car, pulling up in back of the Bluesmobile which was stopped in front of a stoplight.

"I know what you're doing, Alan," she shifted the car into second gear without looking at him. "you want to know more about me, don't you?"

"Is that so wrong?" he countered effortlessly.

"You already know the worst."

"So tell me more of the best. I'd like to know more about you as a person, not just the shit you've been through."

"Can't all the good stuff wait?"

"You got anything better to do?"

"Come on, Alan," she wheedled. "you really want to know more about my past?"

"Hell, yes."

"On one condition."

He sighed. Melody could be so tricky sometimes. "Which is?"

"I don't know anything about you."

"Oh, right." he thought his life story was nothing compared to hers. "What's more to know? I have a brother and a sister, I'm Brooklyn born-"

"That accounts for the attitude." Melody laughed as she signaled for a turn.

"Ahem. Anyway, I got interested in horns when I was about 10, did public school, got into Julliard, dropped out, and worked on Saturday Night Live until Elwood and Jake pigeonholed me one night and asked me to join their band. I was gettin' restless doing SNL and I agreed to their deal. We relocated to Illinois because it is the blues center of the USA, and after that fiasco 5 years ago, I'm quite glad to be on the right side of the law!"

"I don't imagine you had much choice. I noticed Jake has an annoying habit of not telling you guys everything."

"Tell me about it. He didn't tell us that we were doing the Palace Hotel gig to save some orphanage where they grew up. We're not hard men, we'd have understood. I just wish they'd have been more upfront about the whole thing."

"They needed you."

"It is nice to feel needed, not exploited."

"There's a fine line between that," Melody admitted. "how did they bail you out of your job?"

Alan snorted, laughing, startling Melody, who'd never heard him laugh before. "Oh man, is that a story! I didn't think it was funny at the time, but now I do!"

"Oh, tell me more."

"I was working as a host at Chez Paul, some hoity-toity upperclass twit establishment. It was French frou-frou fare and to a guy like me, just a job. I didn't belong with the twit crowd mind you."

"I couldn't see you in a place like that."

"Damn straight. Anyway, Elwood and Jake come in one night and make royal asses of themselves trying to get me back into the band. They caused a ruckus like they usually would, being loud and obnoxious. Jake harassed a family which came in every so often and the father was a real piece of work. He was the epitome of a snob and now I think back on it, Jake did me a favor."

"How'd he piss the guy off?"

"He started demanding that the guy sell him his daughters."

Melody cracked up at that image in her head. It was so Jake, demanding something outrageous and totally inappropriate. She could see it all in her head and Alan started laughing again. "It seemed to humble that guy more too," he added. "he didn't seem so pompous after that and I caught Elwood making eyes at the oldest girl."

"Ha! Well, Elwood's a man and he's got his needs..."

"Speaking of which, I saw you and Elwood smooching a few days ago. Are you two um.."

"No, we're not. It was a one time thing."

"Did you two-"

"Oh, look who's getting below the belt," Melody laughed as Alan flushed pink. "I can tell you this: Elwood and I did do the no pants dance. It was just the one time and both of us wanted to scratch an itch."

"That's what that was."

"Awfully curious now aren't you?" Melody teased. "I don't kiss and tell."

"Please don't. I don't need to hear a report on how good Elwood was in the sack."

"It wouldn't be becoming of me if I did tell. Changing the subject now!"

"Please do."

"So, what's your favorite car you'd love to own someday?"

"I like the Mercedes 300 SL roadster."

"Isn't that the one Jackie Stewart raced to fame and glory in the sixties?"

"I have no idea what you're on about. I don't follow races."

"Meh. I feel sorry for you then." Melody jibed glibly.

It took most of the day to get to the next gig and book themselves into a hotel. Melody suspected again that Jake was trying to pair her and Alan off since he did ride in her car solo. She gave him a dark look at the reception desk but he only smirked at her as he handed her the key. "If there's a double bed instead of two twin beds, I'm coming for your hide, Jake." she warned him.

"Aw, come on!" he mock-whined. "I'm just tryin' to help nature a bit!"

"Nature's a mother and she'll get you."

"Oh, I'm so scared!" he pretended to shrink back.

"Come on Jake, don't mess with a female. We're quite capable of surprising you."

"You don't know the half of it, Melody." Elwood remembered a certain brunette hell bent on killing Jake years ago. Melody shot him a confused look, wondering what he was on about. The band didn't know anything about it either, as everyone was looking at Elwood now. Jake straightened himself up and dismissed everyone to their rooms.

The hotel was another Ramada and Melody noticed that unlike the previous one, this one hadn't been neglected. It was a bit ambitious, like a chandelier that was cheap looking and half the lights didn't light up, but the rooms were well furnished and comfortable. The furniture had been done in a light maple and the colors of the room were all in light tones as well, making the room feel bigger than it actually was. Melody was happy to see that there were twin beds instead of a queen sized one, and she claimed hers in the usual fashion, throwing her suitcase on it.

"I swear Jake's gonna get it one of these days," Alan muttered as he sat down on his bed. "sometimes I just want to punch him."

"Think he'd notice?" Melody pulled her suitcase over to her and unzipped it, pulling out her dirty clothes and tying them in a laundry bag she'd packed. There was a laundromat just around the corner and she meant to do a load. Alan sniggered and relaxed back, snapping on the TV.

"I'll be back in a few hours."

"See you then." she left the room and ran straight into Jake.

"Gettin' everything ready for tonight?" he teased, falling into step with her.

"Come on Jake, do I insult you like this?"

"Come on, I was just teasin'."

"I know you are but I don't like being teased about my shall we say libido. You have to remember I'm not one of the guys."

"I know that. You got a rack on you and-"

"Jake, let's stop it right there. I think that's enough," she said gently, not wanting to hurt him. "you can tease me like the others, just please keep it off my libido, OK?"

"Fine. You're no fun."

"I'm plenty of fun! I heard how you behaved when Alan was working at a French restaurant and I never laughed so hard."

"He told you?"

"Of course! He thought it was pretty funny and I did as well." Jake walked with her to the foyer, gossiping and teasing her good-naturedly. "I'm off for laundry, you want to come?"

"Elwood's just done ours. I think Murph and Matt are doing theirs right now."

"All right. See you in a bit."

"Later." she pushed open the double doors and walked around the block, noticing a sleek black Cadillac parked across the way. Melody hummed the tune Black Cadillac from Johnny Cash as she stepped up and pulled the door open to the all night laundromat. Murph and Matt looked up to see her and gave her identical smiles. She pulled open the bag and dumped it all into a front loader machine as they watched.

Once the machine was put into gear for the washing, Melody sat down with the boys and perused a magazine for a moment. "Nope, nothing in there but pop culture bullshit," she pronounced, throwing it aside. "so who wants to play a game?"

"What game?"

"I was thinking Rummy. I always have a deck on me." she pulled one out from her small purse.

"Gin?"

"I don't gamble."

"Ah." she cut the deck and dealt them 7 cards each. It took about an hour of playing time, but Matt was the first one to 500 and he was the winner of the game. Melody and Murph grumbled a bit and picked up the cards, but Matt beamed at them. They transferred their loads to the dryers and sat back again to wait another 45 minutes while the cycles chugged on.

"So, mind if I ask about you and Alan?"

"Go ahead, Murph." Murph had the nice-guy vibe that made him so approachable. Melody liked and respected him very much. Matt gave her a knowing smile and she returned it.

"You two just friends?"

"Yes indeed."

"Lou noticed he couldn't keep his eyes off of you."

"Oh, really?"

"Yep. You know how gossip spreads through pretty fast," Murph informed her. "you two are in the same car together all the time now."

"Well, all I can say really is that since the accident, Alan thinks he needs to keep an eye on me. Jake thinks he's being a matchmaker by putting us in the same room now. His little joke."

"Do you mind Alan being like that?"

"No, not at all. It's sweet in a way. I haven't had anyone looking after me in awhile now."

"Kind of a luxury now, isn't it?" Murph asked knowingly.

"Of course."

"Well, Alan's last girlfriend treated him like dirt and I want to make sure that you won't, you know.."

"I don't treat men like that," she interrupted. "I don't believe in being nasty or overly dramatic. I take it as it is and give a man the respect he deserves."

"I'm glad to hear that," Matt interjected. "last time he was dumped, Alan was angry for a long time. In fact, it seems like he stopped being angry when he saw you."

Melody blushed red. "I'm sure it wasn't on that account he stopped being pissy."

"Alan was working through the anger he had about being used like he was. He was getting better at controlling it as well."

"Was it just verbal abuse or worse?"

"I think it was just verbal. She had ways of making him hang onto her words, promising to change but that never happened. You know how some women are."

"I've met a few." Melody shuddered. Some of her old high school friends had been treated as badly as Alan and that never stopped irritating her. "He must have been truly gaga for her to hold on for as long as he did."

"Very much so. We'd visit and she'd be taking all these potshots at him, snarky and snide remarks. He hid it, but it ran deep."

"So what happened then? Did he lose it and throw her out?"

"Finally. It was Jake really that helped throw Alan off the deep end."

"Do tell!"

"One night Alan was coming home from work and Jake was there. Jake's strongly possessive of the group and he thought Alan was being ill used, which he was. When Jake gets protective, nobody could deter him from doing what he thought needed to be done. Anyway, when Alan came home, the snarking and snide remarks started which drove Jake nuts. He asked to have a private word with Alan and told him that he was better than all the abuse. Alan didn't really have the courage to throw out the wench as Jake called her, but you know Jake. He'll work it to his advantage."

"Oh, what did he do?" Melody almost squealed. Matt laughed broadly and Murph grinned.

"Jake got Alan drunk. He got him really shit faced, told him repeatedly that wench was no good for him, then got him really mad. Alan's usually really even-tempered, but through Jake's influence, he got all indignant and pissed off. So he comes out of the living room in a drunken haze, rages at that woman, just spewing vile and nasty things about her left and right. Alan told her she was no good for him, the usual things you'd say in such a state. From what Jake says, the woman was just dumbfounded, but the best part was when Alan started drunkenly packing her shit and throwing it out all into the hallway. Just as he finished doing all that, he blacked out on the couch and the wench tried to hit him or something, but Jake intervened. He threw her out, told her to get all her shit out of the hallway or he'd call the landlord. They never heard from her again."

"Damn!"

"That's what we said."

"Isn't it, Matt? Of course, Jake blamed himself for what happened next."

"What?"

"Alan got alcohol poisoning. He did not rouse when Jake tried to wake him up, so Jake took him to the hospital with Elwood's help. Apparently when Alan finally woke up, he wasn't too surprised he was in the hospital. Since then, Alan doesn't drink more than a little at a time."

"Good for him, I guess. I don't like getting drunk."

"I don't either," Matt stood up and began folding his laundry. "I hate not being in control."

Walking back to the hotel, Melody was giggling and chatting with the two bandmembers when the black Cadillac that had been parked nearby earlier began to drive near to them. A window lowered down, producing a loud squeak that all 3 of them heard, turned, then a flash of light and a loud gunshot was heard. Melody felt the impact but it didn't hurt her, curiously enough. She continued walking to the hotel with the others, then realized she saw the face that shot her. It was familiar and she had to struggle to place it, but she knew who it was.

"Mel?" she'd been leaning against the doorframe with her eyes shut. Matt and Murph looked worried. "What is it?"

Shaking, she removed her left hand from her right shoulder. A neat bullet wound showed itself through the light of the streetlamp and blood was dripping freely down her arm. Swearing, Murph dashed for the phone to call for help and Matt picked her up, setting her on a chair inside and trying to stem the bleeding. Melody pulled out a small notebook and pen from her purse and wrote one line, folded it, then put Alan's name on it. Matt took it to give to Alan later on, then the ambulance arrived.

"Matt, will you stay and explain to the others what happened?"

"Of course, man." Murph swung aboard the ambulance with Melody, snapping the doors shut.

Matt went right into action after the ambulance left. He told the other bandmembers to meet him in the lobby for a few minutes and went into Alan's room. The trumpet player had fallen asleep with the light on and Matt had to shake him a bit to get him to awaken.

"Alan, there's something you need to see. Wake up."

"What is it?" he asked with his eyes still shut.

"It's Melody."

Alan's eyes shot open. "Is she all right?"

"We were walking back from the laundromat when some crazy guy in a black Cadillac shot her. Murph's with her right now and will call us as soon as he can," he added as Alan's face started to turn gray. "she wrote something down on a note and told me to give it to you." he handed it over. "I've got to tell the rest of the band right now but I thought you should hear it first."

"Thanks for that, man," he took the note which had a few dark stains on it. Melody's blood, he thought with a shudder. "I appreciate it."

"She got hit in the shoulder and she'll most likely be fine. I'll see you later." Matt gave Alan a friendly pat on the shoulder and left the room.

Hands shaking slightly, he unfolded the note and read "Brad Walton shot me. He's from the Calumet City gangster club. More later. I will be all right. Melody."

Even wounded she was reassuring him of her condition. A slightly watery smile showed itself for a moment, then he put the note in his suitcase. The trumpeter knew he couldn't do anything until the morning. He'd seen enough cop shows to know that Melody would be operated on and hospitalized for a few days to recover properly. Gunshots were required by law to be reported to the police and the doctor would take care of that.

It looked like he was in for a long night. Melody would be properly attended to, but that didn't mean he wasn't still going to worry.

Murph got out of the ambulance and saw that Melody was taken into surgery without a problem. He sat down on a bench and gave the nurse the proper information that they needed to identify Melody, and he began to wait. The piano player did his fair amount of pacing and wondering what was going on, though he knew from lack of news he could take that as good news.

The other bandmembers would be waiting anxiously as well and Murph was glad that he was the only one in the waiting room. The hospital staff didn't need everyone there to clutter up the benches and make asses of themselves.

"Mr. Dunne?" two hours later a surgeon finally came out from the double doors. Murph stood up and asked after Melody anxiously.

"She'll be all right," he exhaled in relief. "the bullet actually went through her shoulder and the exit wound was the worst bleeder I've seen for awhile now. I got her all patched up and she's in recovery at the moment. She's young and in good health so I bet she'll make a complete recovery from this."

"I'm glad."

"Ms. Calloway will be hospitalized for at least the next 24 hours so we can check her over for any postoperative complications. You might want to head home and try to get some sleep. She's not going to be awake for a long time yet."

"All right. Thanks."

"You're welcome. Try to get some sleep." the doctor reiterated firmly as Murph shook his hand and left the ward.

It was near 2 AM when Murph got back into the hotel. Jake and Elwood were sitting up in the lobby, Jake snoring loudly but Elwood was still awake. When he saw his bandmate, he nudged Jake who roused with a snort, then stood up.

"How is she?"

"She'll be absolutely fine." Murph hastened to reassure them. "We can go visit tomorrow afternoon if she's awake enough."

"Good." Elwood exchanged a glance with Jake. "Let's get some rest now."

"Amen to that." Murph followed them down the hall. Alan had finally fallen asleep about 15 minutes earlier, despite his conviction that he would stay awake until he knew something of Melody's condition. Exhaustion pulled him under before he knew what was going on.

Dreams twisted themselves through his mind that night, many not making a shred of sense. One minute Alan would see Melody at the end of a road, the next he would see her lying abused and battered on the asphalt in some alleyway. Unable to make sense of any of the images, the scene would shift repeatedly before he could get a handle on what was going on at all. One particularly vivid dream had Alan staring at a lady who looked a bit like Melody-same brown eyes but black hair and similar facial features. The lady did not smile but looked at Alan urgently and he heard, "They are coming for her." the apparition vanished before he could ask who and why, but had an inkling that he already knew.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Confrontation

When Melody woke up, she felt like she'd been in a dream. There was an unreal quality about the whole incident last night and strangely enough it felt like she hadn't been there at all. The gunshot was real, the pain was real, but everything else seemed almost otherworldly. Stark whiteness infiltrated her vision rudely, telling her she had been moved to a private room, seeing the absence of another bed nearby. Her wound had been attended to and now it was a dull throbbing pain that she could live with. She could see a drug pump connected to her, but she was comfortable as long as she made no sudden moves.

She'd first woken up in the post anesthesia recovery unit and felt like she could not move at all. The drugs they'd used made her limbs feel extremely heavy and she could not even move her head. Melody had heard the monotonous droning on of her heart monitor, the gossip of annoyingly chatty nurses nearby, and thankfully, she went back into her drug-induced sleep. The singer was glad to have been moved while she was asleep, which spared her the pain and discomfort of the ride up to wherever she was. Orderlies were not noted for taking patients from point A to point B in comfort.

After the nurse had come and gone, there was a knock on the door and Melody bade them to enter. She was sitting up on the bed, adjusting her right arm which was in a sling, brow furrowed and cursing heavily under her breath.

"Hey, you decent?"

"Alan?" he came in, clad in his jeans and button up black shirt. There was a slightly pallid look to his face like he hadn't gotten enough sleep, but Melody knew that he would sleep well that night after he saw her. Alan crossed over to her bed and appraised his friend visually. She didn't look very different from the previous night, a little paler from the bloodloss and there were a few lines of pain around her eyes, but that was it.

"Cold?"

"A bit." Alan pulled a robe off the coat hanger and draped it around her shoulders carefully, sitting down beside her. Melody met his eyes and gave him a little smile, tucking back a strand of her hair behind her ear.

"First time I've ever seen you with your hair loose."

"Hopefully the last. I'm getting it cut shorter sometime soon."

"Still, I like it."

"Thanks, I guess. I wish I was a redhead though. My mom and one of my aunts were."

"Nice. Ready to go back?"

"Am I allowed to be discharged?"

"I had to pull a few strings, but yes. Elwood and Jake are standing by to bring you back. Want some help?"

"I'll definitely need it. What sucks is that I can't drive my car like this." Melody stood up and took off her robe, pulling out her bag with her things in it. Alan did his best not to steal any glances at Melody, but he did have a glimpse or two of her mildly indecent. She took care of her bottom half, having worn simple elastic waist shorts and sandals, but she did need help with getting her bra and shirt on.

"Don't worry, I didn't see anything." Alan joked as they went downstairs to the lobby.

"Damn right you didn't." she giggled and went through the double doors to where the Bluesmobile was idling, waiting for her. Elwood acted as her valet, opening up the door for her while Jake gave her a gentle hug.

"I'm glad you're all right." he and Alan guided her in like her bones were made of glass. Melody loved the attention and allowed Alan to lean over her to fasten her safety belt. In doing so he brushed against her ample bosom and though Melody pretended not to notice, she could see out of the corner of her eye that he was a little flustered.

"Ready to go?" Elwood turned in his seat so he could see her better.

"Yes indeed." he put the car in drive and eased out into traffic. Melody teased him about his granny driving until they got to the hotel and he was giggling at her jokes when they reached the parking lot. Alan glanced at her out of the corner of his own eyes, wondering where she had gotten the inner strength to smile after what she had been through. She certainly was resilient, he could admit that freely.

"I'll save the theme car rides for when you're a hundred percent again, all right?"

"I'm gonna hold you to that, Elwood." he and Jake got out of the car and Alan unsnapped the seatbelt and guided her out of the car as Jake opened up the door for her. The entire band was waiting in the foyer of the hotel to welcome her back, much to her surprise and joy. Melody was engulfed in gentle hugs and words of welcome, making her feel wanted and grateful that she was part of the Blues Brothers. She thanked them all, told them their support meant more to her than they would ever understand, then Alan took her to her room.

"Now that we're alone, Mel, I have questions for you." Alan shut and locked the door then joined her on the bed. "Who is this Brad guy?"

"Well, I didn't understand it until last night when it just all came back to me in a rush. Brad was my aunt's last boyfriend. I don't know much about him but my aunt said he was involved in some sidelining jobs which was her code for me saying that Brad was a drug runner. He'd been the last one to see my aunt besides me and he said that he had been out of town on business that night."

"Do the cops know about this?"

"I couldn't say, Alan. I'll have to call Mercer of the state troops and talk to him after I'm done informing you. Brad was sleaze, he'd try to come onto me when my aunt wasn't around, and he was the main factor in why I left my aunt's house to live on my own. She thought I was mad at her and in truth I was because she chose to date such a piece of trash."

"Damn. You and your aunt reconcile over this?"

"Yes and I think that's why Brad thought he had to kill her," a gleam appeared in Melody's eyes as they lit up with an idea. "my aunt Ella had been weak in her mind, anyone could tell her what to do. Brad didn't like it when I was around because she followed through on my suggestions and encouragement to stand up for herself. I bet he thought my aunt had let something slip in his underhanded dealings, so that's why he murdered her in an alley."

"He tell your aunt of all his drug trafficking?"

"Yeah, he bragged about it and knew my aunt wouldn't squeal on him. It went like this: Ella meets Brad, Brad and Ella date for awhile, Brad deliberately sabotages my relationship with Ella, I leave, he brags about his drug dealings and scores to Ella, Ella gets scared, meets with me, and in turn Brad believes Ella ratted him out to me and I was going to the cops with it. Brad sees Ella and me as loose ends that had to be mended. Brad kills Ella and now he's out for me."

"Makes sense. Wanna make that call now?"

"Hell, yes. Mercer is one decent cop and I'll trust him above the others."

"Burton Mercer? He put Elwood and Jake away, and to a lesser extent us." Alan remembered the rotund guy with the mop of brown hair well. He had been apologetic about arresting the band members, but had been quite lenient with them in their sentencing through his influence.

"Oh?" Melody said politely as she grabbed the phone and began to dial. "He's a nice guy and he treats me like I'm a smart lady not a dumbass the rest of the force did."

"Mercer was lenient on the band and we got out of jail only after about 3 months. Still was the longest 3 months of my life." Alan admitted as he pulled out the yellow pages. "He knew Jake had duped us."

"That's right." Melody spoke to the secretary and relayed the information over to Mercer.

"Brad Walton? I know that sleazebag. I'll put out a call on him and the local force will be out swarming the county for him. Meantime Ms. Calloway, I don't want you going anywhere alone and unprotected. Has he made any other attempts on your life?"

"I believe so, sir. I think it was him that cut my brake lines in my Mustang almost 5 days ago and caused some damage."

"You're all right?"

"Yes sir."

"All right. I heard you were with the Blues Brothers band."

"I am."

"Make sure they stay on the right side of the law."

"Easier said than done, sir. They're not malicious, just troublesome."

Mercer laughed. "True. I have no ill feeling towards them and I'd like to see them perform a full set again. In spite of professional circumstances, they were great onstage."

"That's very true, sir. We have a few gigs here so we won't be leaving until next week."

"Good. Stay put, report anything suspicious, don't go anywhere unprotected."

"I will follow your instructions to the letter, sir. Thank you." they hung up. Alan looked over at her and she passed on everything that Mercer had told her. "So, want to be my bodyguard?" she teased.

"What are the perks of the job?"

"Me at your mercy, but you'd call that a drawback. I don't think there are any perks to being with me all the time really." Melody stretched out on her bed the best she could.

"You impress me, Mel."

"How's that?"

Alan turned to face her as he lay on his left side. "I thought you'd be hocked up on drugs and painkillers to the point of getting stoned. I didn't expect you to be..."

"Lucid?" she supplied. "Doubtless Brad wants me all stoned out so he can kill me."

"Don't say that." he shuddered. "I don't want to think about it."

"Me neither. Is there a gig tonight?"

"Yeah there is. I'm your guard so you have to come."

"I'll come without a problem, Alan. I think singing is going to distract me and it just feels good."

"I feel the same way when I play my trumpet." their eyes met and Melody detected affection for her in Alan's eyes, deep affection that went into the realms of romance. Uncomfortable with romance in general, she politely averted her eyes and turned on the TV.

"Hey, Poltergeist! This movie is freakin' excellent." for the next 2 hours, Melody was absorbed in the movie. When it concluded, Melody muted the TV, humming the song Jump The Line by Harry Belafonte when she turned to ask Alan if he liked it. "Oh." he was sound asleep. With a little grin, Melody picked up a folded blanket at the foot of the bed and spread it over him. "Have a good nap, Alan." bending over him, she pecked him on the cheek and left him a note in case he woke up and she wasn't there "With Elwood and Jake. Mel."

Elwood lounged on a couch in the lobby of the hotel as Jake went with Steve, Matt, Lou, Tom, and Willie to the local street fair nearby. The lanky singer didn't have any interest in going to fairs and he wanted to stick around in case Melody needed him. He tuned one ear in to hear someone approaching him and smiled when Melody sat down in front of him.

"Feeling all right?"

"Yes actually."

"The others went to a local fair. If you're interested, I can walk you down-"

"No thanks, Elwood. I have a matter of the heart I need to discuss. Privately mind you."

"Of course. Step into my office." they went to his room and shut the door tightly. "So what's on your mind?"

"A lot," Melody sat down on Jake's bed. "I talked with Mercer from the state cops and he's got people out canvassing this area for who they think attacked me."

"Good I guess."

"Anyway, I think one of the band has a crush on me and has romantic intentions towards me as well."

"Alan, right? I knew it! Jake owes me twenty bucks now."

"How do you-"

"C'mon, the way he looks at you for one! He believes in keeping a lid on his emotions most of the time, but he gets a look in his eyes whenever he sees you. It is the look of the lovestruck, Melody."

"Am I the only one who seems immune to this?" she asked, frustrated. Elwood shrugged.

"Some things are best seen from a distance. Besides, have you much experience in this kinda thing?"

"No. Not ever," Melody crossed her legs and looked embarrassed. Elwood didn't seem surprised at all. "my mom died when I was little, Elwood. I have no experience in dating, romance, nothing like that at all. My aunt's relationships were always toxic and to sum it up, I know how not to have a relationship."

"Relax, Mel. Do what feels right to you," Elwood advised her. He'd had a few romances and though they didn't work out, he liked romancing a lady. "you already know each other and this latest attack on you has brought him closer to you as well. The one thing I can be sure of telling you is be sure you feel the same way that he does. Do you think about him all the time? Are you always happy to see him? Those kinda things will point you in the right direction. Go with your heart and try to keep your head out of it."

"That's very insightful, Elwood."

"It comes with the experience. Where is the surly guy anyway?"

"He's taking a nap. I know he didn't sleep well last night."

"We've still got time to kill before the gig," Elwood switched on the TV. "have you ever seen this movie?" some nameless ghost flick was playing across the screen.

"Nope." they settled in to watch it. Melody propped herself up with pillows and Elwood sat behind her, allowing her to lean against him while they watched the movie. Melody was reminded of a time she did that to her older brother and smiled, mentally thinking of Elwood as one. She glanced at his ink stained hands holding the remote and decided as far as touring and bands went, she'd hit the jackpot.

"Mel?" Alan croaked when he woke up, rubbing his eyes. He heard the shower stop and a low humming sound as the person drew back the curtains and stepped outside the tub. Melody looked over at him as she dried off her hair, edging out of the bathroom.

"You called?"

"Just wanted to know where you were." she looked good to him, water beads dripping down her skin enticingly. For a moment his eyes zeroed in on her good arm clutching the towel up above her bust and Melody gave him a mock glare.

"Gotcha." ducking back into the bathroom, the vocalist dried herself off and managed to get dressed in her suit for the gig. Elwood had expressed to her that she did not need to dress up in the same suit he and Jake usually dressed in, but once in awhile Melody did love to show a little solidarity with her friends. The band almost never wore identical outfits, but they did have to wear the shades which they didn't mind. The stage lights were hot and the shades helped tone down the glare on the instruments and equipment.

"All right, Alan. What do you think?" Melody stepped into view about half an hour later and Alan turned to look at her casually, but wound up nearly goggling at her.

Melody was wearing black suit pants, ankle boots in black, a white button up shirt, and she had tied loosely a white scarf that had musical staffs and notes around her waist. Her hair had been dried and she'd hot curled a wave into it so it parted around her ears, showing off her gold colored quarter note earrings. She had a small pin on each lapel, one of a trumpet and another of piano keys. Alan's eyes went up to her shirt, seeing it buttoned just above her cleavage so she had her modesty intact.

"Um, wow." Melody had worn makeup before but this time she'd gone for a little more drama. Silver eyeliner and mascara adorned her eyes, showing off the tanned color of her skin, dark blue-pink lipstick was on her lips, and that was it. Alan admired the minimalist quality of the makeup and she did a flashy turn for him.

"I hope that is a good wow, Alan!" she giggled and sat down on the bed next to him. Up close he examined her dark eyes and saw how strongly the makeup showed off her tan from the summer and made her lips look a bit fuller than usual.

"You look beautiful." Alan put every ounce of emotion he had into those words and Melody knew it. She smiled with a faint flush rising on her cheeks which Alan also liked. Melody was a bit uncomfortable with his attention towards her so she made to stand up, but he took her hand and guided her over towards him. "Shut your eyes for a minute."

She looked skeptical but still did as he asked. Alan edged closer to her, then finally gave her a kiss. Melody shifted in surprise, but decided to let herself go and enjoy the moment. Elwood was right, she thought. There was too much emphasis on using your brain in a relationship or at the start of one, but you had to ask yourself what the heart wanted. She knew it was corny to think of such a thing, but she couldn't find a better way to put it. Steve had been right as well, as Alan had demonstrated that he was comfortable with her enough to take the next step. Once again she thanked the powers that be that she had ended up with such a great group.

"You've got pink lipstick on you now." she laughed as they pulled apart. "Still think that was a good idea?"

Alan swiped at his lips as she pulled a tissue out of her pocket. "I always keep some on hand." Melody dabbed it away with a teasing wink.

"Of course it was a good idea!" he blustered a bit with a smile. "I always have good ideas!"

"Oh, sure. Whatever." Melody threw away the tissue and glanced at the alarm clock, the smile never leaving her face. "I have to say that's not as bad as I expected."

"How did you get into that outfit without help?" her arm was still held bent at the elbow.

"Stupidity." was all she said. It hadn't been that bad, as the button up shirt was easier than she had thought. She could still use her arm to button her pants, but that was about it. Alan helped her with the sling and she exhaled slowly in relief as the sling took the strain off of her arm. He guided her up and they left the room.

With the rest of the band, they slid into the Cadillac and the Bluesmobile and hightailed it to the gig. Neither Melody nor Alan said anything about the smooch, not ready to take any of it public yet. Both of them did not know where they stood relationship wise yet, but they would work it out in time. They had felt the attraction and the chemistry, so that was something anyway.

"OK, let's knock 'em dead!" Jake announced with his usual aplomb as they arrived, got out of the cars, then set to work. Melody mended a few loose wires with temporary patches until after the show, discussed the set list with Jake and Elwood, then went backstage with the others.

"Melody's in a bit of a predicament," Elwood said simply. "our girl's being tracked by some hit man or something and being out on stage will help take her mind off of that."

"She'll be a bigger target out there." Willie disagreed.

"Not exactly," Jake interjected. "she'll be surrounded by us and a lot of fans, which means if someone's dumb enough to attempt something, there's a lot of witnesses. The Chicago police force is here to make sure our girl gets the protection that she needs."

"It goes without saying really that she can't be alone," Murph spoke up. "but it does bear repeating."

"That's right, Murph," Matt clapped his friend on the back with one arm. "Melody's worked technical miracles here and we won't let her go."

"Oh you guys." she turned red as they all applauded her. "I'm not going to get emotional here, but I'm glad to be one of your blues family."

Melody caught Alan's eye and nodded as he winked at her. Nobody else noticed, fortunately. When the others all filed onstage to take their spots, the two held back to the very last and Alan pecked her on the cheek, wary of the makeup she was wearing.

"Just remember I'm here for you." he picked up his trumpet.

"From you that's a real emotional outburst." Alan play swiped at her and she took her place onstage, giggling as the curtains went up. The place was about a third of the size of the Palace Hotel, and nowhere near as grand. Jake and Elwood felt more comfortable there on that stage, like it was more suited to them personally. Neither one felt shabby because of their surroundings and that influenced their voices. Melody joined the horn section for backup vocals, standing next to Lou on the end. The stage lights were already starting to make her a bit hot and she knew it wouldn't be long before she was perspiring freely.

They got through the first 8 songs without any trouble and Melody was just finishing up Mr. Saxobeat when a sound of gunfire split the air, causing all the music to fall silent as people screamed and ducked. Melody looked up and saw someone standing in the darkness behind them on the stage near Willie.

"God he was stupid enough to do this," Alan muttered, trying not to make any sudden moves. "idiot."

Elwood and Jake started slinking over to the side of the stage, as the shooter's attention was solely on Melody. She moved near the stairs so she could hide the brothers as they disappeared from view. Jake reached out and squeezed her ankle briefly, giving her support.

"Nobody move!" an unkempt brunette man screamed, waving a Browning 9 mm at Melody. "You're gonna get just what you deserve, you bitch!"

"The hell did I ever do to you, Brad?" she put the mike on the stand and looked over at the crazed man. "Did I interfere with your drug dealings? Did I tell my aunt to end it with you and to stand up for herself?" she knew the answer to all of those and she could see by the looks she was getting that the band thought she was insane for baiting the gunman. Melody refused to become the stereotypical female hostage, all hysterical and screaming. She saw it as a ploy for some man to swoop in and rescue her like Superman. The vocalist would rescue herself and not become dependent on a man to save her.

"You wrecked my dealings!" he screeched. "All the cops knew of my contacts and infiltrated the hangout! The second I got out of jail a year ago, I vowed to kill you, now I will do it! Die, bitch!"

"Why do the good guys always suffer for being good?" Melody asked nobody in particular as Brad jumped across the stage and seized her right shoulder, squeezing down on it hard, making her scream in pain. The torture ended when Melody's knees buckled and fell to the floor, her shades fell off, her eyes were closed. Brad gave a hysterical chuckle and raised up his gun, aiming it at her heart.

"Mel!" Alan lurched forward but was restrained by his bandmates. "Leave her alone!"

"Aw, do you like her?" Brad taunted him. "You think this little hussy is good enough for you?"

"She's not any of those things you think she is! Wake up, Mel!" he fought to get out of Tom's hold, but the trombone player was too strong for him.

"The only good woman is a dead woman." Brad proclaimed as he began to squeeze the trigger.

"Think again!" Jake threw himself at Brad, knocking him off balance and tackling him down to the floor. Elwood and Mercer charged into the auditorium and ran up on the stage where Mercer grabbed the gun and passed it to a deputy. Jake wrestled Brad around to face Mercer, pinning the criminal's arms behind his back. "You're sure gonna like Joliet, pal! You mess with one of us and you get hell for it, right, El?"

"Amen to that one, Jake." Elwood pulled Alan out of Tom's grasp, seeing it all was safe for them now. The band put down their instruments and formed a semicircle around the cop and the criminal, each one giving their impression of a death stare.

"Well, thanks for making this all public!" Mercer spoke gaily. "We won't have a problem puttin' your sorry ass in jail for life now!" he handcuffed the criminal and led him away as Alan quickly went over to where Melody lay with Jake and Elwood already bending over her.

"Damn, I hope I never hear that sound come out of her again," Jake muttered, remembering her scream. Elwood nodded in agreement.

"What happened to her? Is she OK?" Alan demanded, trying to push past the brothers to see her. Elwood quickly checked her sutures, which showed no sign of redness or any reaction at all. "Mel?"

"She thought this might happen," Jake pulled out a small bottle from his jacket, uncorked it, then waved it under her nose. "she should be all right."

"Mel?" she groaned and blinked her eyes, fuzzily making out the forms of Jake and Elwood. Jake wrapped an arm around her shoulders and propped her up a little bit. "Come on, up we go!"

"Guys," Melody cleared her throat. "is it over now?"

"Yup." Elwood replied in his usual monotone as the audience filtered out through the exits. "We did a decent gig."

"Is that all you think about?" Jake laughed. "Come on, Mel, do you think you can stand up?"

"I think so." they pulled her up by her good arm and she wobbled for a moment before stabilizing herself. Alan stood beside her and their eyes met briefly. "You know what, gentlemen?"

"What?" the band crowded around her as Alan reached for her left hand behind their backs.

"I think we'll all be all right from now on. No more brushes with the law and lots of gigs." his right hand found her left and they stood close beside each other, their backs hiding the act from the rest of the band.

"Bigger and better gigs." Steve.

"Rakin' in some serious coin!" Willie.

"Great songs to play." Matt.

"New techniques to learn." Tom.

"New places to travel to all over America!" Murph.

"Sayin' goodbye to everyday life." Duck.

"Making it big." Lou.

"Gettin' the VIP treatment!" Jake chimed in.

"Spreadin' the word of soul." Elwood.

"Just getting out there and singing your heart out." Melody.

"Discovering new relationships." Alan spoke in a low tone of voice, rubbing Melody's hand covertly.

"The sky's the limit, everyone! Let's get crackin'." they all began to dismantle and pack up their equipment.


	8. Chapter 8

EPILOGUE

JAKE

Three months after Brad was arrested, it was early January and the band was home for the holidays. Melody and Alan had begun spending time more at his apartment than hers, as it was too far from where Alan freelanced. They had settled into a good life mostly together, as she spent the night about twice a week when she wasn't working, and Alan would spend the weekends at her place.

One day while Alan was waiting for Melody to come home, the phone rang and he answered it in his usual tone. "Rubin here."

"Alan, it's Matt."

"Hey, Matt. What's up? Got a gig?"

"Um, no. Alan, Jake's dead."

"What?"

"He was found last night. I guess he tried to rob a convenience store. Anyway the funeral's tomorrow. Is Melody there?"

"She went out on a gig last night and I haven't seen her since. I'll be sure we're both there."

"Right. See ya tomorrow." Matt hung up.

"Damn." Alan sat down on the couch leaning forward, his face in his hands. "I don't believe it."

Time passed numbly for the band until the funeral. Elwood was unable to attend, as he'd been hit with a bad case of the flu and needed hospitalization. The band members stood until the service started and Melody arrived a few minutes late. Each one of them spoke some words about Jake and Elwood, then the reverend gave a prayer.

"Where have you been?" Alan hissed as Melody sat down next to him, clad in a black pencil skirt and black button up shirt.

"I'll tell you later." the band stood up and with Melody standing nearby, acted as pallbearers, loading Jake's casket into the back of the hearse. The official cause of death for him was a gunshot wound directly to the heart and he'd died in less than a minute. Everyone's eyes were red rimmed as they got into the Cadillac and followed the hearse to the burial plot. Through the band, they had all chipped in to buy Jake a monument with the surname BLUES sandblasted on the front in fancy script. The granite chosen was a bluish hue which worked perfectly. Jake's name was sandblasted on the back with his birth and death dates, leaving room for Elwood when his time came.

After the brief graveside service, they saw to it that Jake's body was committed to the ground, then the bandmembers filtered away until only Alan and Melody were left. Melody and Alan walked a little ways away as the funeral director and vault serviceman along with the groundskeeper put the lid on the vault, removed the lowering apparatus, and used the crane on the vault truck to lower the whole vault and casket into the hole.

"There never will be another Jake." Melody leaned her head on Alan's shoulder. The cemetery was a very quiet place to be and it reminded her of a garden of graves, all sitting proudly on the earth. The older section of the cemetery had the graves facing west for some odd reason, Melody thought. They walked back to the car they had left there before the service, Melody was inwardly glad she'd worn boots and not heels on the gravel path. They passed by a majestic statue of an obelisk with an inscription and 3 letters, IHS.

"That's right." bluejays made a fuss overhead, making Alan want to throw rocks at them. He hated those birds with a passion, ever since one had decided to try to nest in an old trumpet case of his.

"But I must be grateful. He brought me to you."

"He did have a funny way of getting things done."

"That he did. Come on, let's make the most of things."

"Yes, Mel." Both of them knew that was how Jake would have wanted it. Alan started up the car and they left the cemetery.

END


End file.
